How to Train Your Dragon: The Novelization
by Stone-Man85
Summary: A young Viking's life is changed when he befriends the one thing Vikings were born to fight: A Dragon. HiccupxAstrid. OCs and plot change.
1. the Pests are Dragons

**Disclaimer: I don't own the movie or the story series, How to Train Your Dragon. They are the sole property of both DreamWorks and animation, and its author, Cressida Cowell. Ocs are of my own design, and will add a bit more evil for the Red Death (Read and find out about it; it'll be cool).**

**Also, I haven't' seen this movie yet, so if things are a bit out of whack from what you've seen, please forgive me on this. So to anyone out there, I had to read a lot of fan fictions, the IMBD quotes, and even check out the Wiki plot on this badboy. Until I can see the flick, which won't be too long, I'll have a better info on it, and update anything I might've misplaced.**

* * *

**How to Train Your Dragon: The Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Pests are… Dragons; Hiccup, the Viking no One Likes**

* * *

**A Long Time Ago**

**Berk**

* * *

Nestled near the shore ways of the ocean, possibly the Atlantic Ocean, located near somewhere in Norway or Iceland, a large and mountainous island was located. Stone stalactites were lining along the ocean area that surrounded the village of Berk. Carved into them were Celtic and Norwegian figures to make them look like Viking totem poles in a way. One of the carvings had its mouth holding a continuous burning torch in place, never going out at all, even in the night skies as of tonight. The city village itself, which consisted of huts, probably two stories or three levels high, were built along the shore canyon walls that led to the docks down below. And further back beyond the town, connected to bridges was a sort of stone coliseum of sorts.

This, was the Isle and city village of Berk, home of the Hairy Hooligans, one of the mightiest Viking tribes in that location. Berk was only twelve days North and a few degrees south. Some said it was solemnly located on the meridian of Misery… so to speak. It had been there for seven strong generations to come, but every new century, the buildings would always be rebuilt brand new. But like most villages, it had its ups and downs, but mostly a 'pest problem'.

Most locations had mice, mosquitoes, locusts, flesh-eating flies, or babies entering the Terrible Two's. But Berk… it had a much bigger problem…

On one of the grassy plain farms of Berk, the lazy sheep were just grazing and all about. Then suddenly, one of the lambs were snatched up in the blink of an eye, with a huge swoosh in the shadows.

On one of the islands closest to Berk, a lookout tower was standing straight, with only one guard looking outward. Everything seemed pretty peaceful to him… until a small light blue blast shot at one of the ships got his attention. One of the ships began to skink in light blue flames, and then another was bombed down again by the same flames.

He immediately ran over to one of the bells, and rung if furiously, getting the village's attention. Torches and voices rose up as all the Viking men began to work around the clock, preparing for battle.

In one of the larger houses, a young Viking lad was racing down the stairways to head outside. The young lad was a Caucasian Viking, with medium reddish brown hair, with a few tiffs of hair growing down in the back of his neck, and his bangs combed to the right side, but still sticking out spiky and messy, and also green eyes to this unlikely boy. His frame was a bit thin, but not gangly, more like he had the frame of a young runner of sorts. He was dressed in a green long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up at the elbow, a brown furred vest that went down and ended at his waist. He also wore brown pants and a brown belt that held them up. But attached to the belt and fastened to his right leg, was a sort of tool pouch. And to finish his look, he had your typical Viking style boots.

In true retrospect, this kid didn't look like your typical Viking teenager. But this young lad was someone of great importance, considering he was the son of the Viking chief of the Hairy Hooligans, Stoick the Vast. This boy was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the 3rd… or to everyone else, Hiccup the Useless.

At this moment, he reached the door, as he was about to head for his usual job, as a Blacksmith under his mentor's teachings. However, as he opened the door, he caught sight of the usual pests that they were all suffering from.

The beast flew down on massive wings with two claws on them, and landed on its black clawed feet. The beast had a long tail, in which was covered in black sharp spines that went from the tip of its tail to the top of its skull, next to its four long sharp horns. The beast had a huge maw full of sharp bladed teeth, and the most fearful yellow reptilian eyes you would ever see. Its whole body was colored black, red, and yellow. This was known as a Monstrous Nightmare; the most ferocious of the…

"Dragons," whispered Hiccup to himself in a distressed tone. He immediately shot the door fast, as the Nightmare blew a powerful blast of fire right at him. The flames only popped out of the top and sides of the closed door, giving the young Viking teen boy some relief as he muttered to himself, "I think I better go out the back entrance."

As soon as Hiccup did get out the back way, did he witness what was transpiring in his village. As he ran through the warring village, he witnessed his own people fend off many different kinds of dragons. One Viking continued to pummel a roundish dragon that flew on wings that fluttered like a humming bird's wings… while they were still in the air. Another dragon shot out fire that would melt the strongest steel, and with a wave of its tail, shot out yellow spikes that stuck to the wall like darts.

But no matter how vicious the dragons were, the Vikings would never give up. This was probably due to some pride they had, a warrior's code to fight to the death, or it was just some random stubbornness issues. Either way, Vikings carrying axes, hammers, swords, or any other sharp weapon, all yelled out battle cries to defend their homes, and their livestock.

"Another raid on our village?" one of the Vikings asked their comrade.

"Aye, it's the 78th this year," a female Viking stated, slashing at what appeared to be a bluish dragon that looked to be more parrot than lizard. "You'd think that after all the beatings and killings we give'em, they'd give up!"

As Hiccup made his way through the village's people, as well as dodged, evaded, and avoided being either burned, bitten, or even captured by a dragon, he was suddenly pulled back by his fur vest. When Hiccup was settled down by his feet, he saw who it was that had grabbed him.

The man was a tall and powerful looking Viking, who nearly dwarfed the boy. He was dressed in a green and brown Viking battle ensemble, with two shoulder guards, and a black cape. He had red hair and a massively large red beard held together by braids. This was Stoick the Vast, the chief of the Hairy Hooligans tribe, leader of Berk, and Hiccup's father. One of the many stories about him, was that when he was only an infant, he ripped a dragon's head clean off its own shoulders.

"What are you doing out here, son?!" Stoick yelled at his son, who slightly flinched from the yell. "Get inside," he ordered as he let him go, and he continued to fight alongside his Viking brethren. As soon as he saw his son was out of sight, Stoick turned to one of his fellow Viking warrior brethren and asked, "What have we got?"

The warrior, recognizing his chief, reported, "Well, sir, we've got Gronkles, Nadders, a few ZippleBacks," then suddenly, one of the buildings erupted, as a Monstrous Nightmare came charging out; its body was all ablaze from horn to foot talons. "Oh, and one Monstrous Nightmare."

Stoick looked around in the skies, cautiously, until he finally asked, "Any sightings of any Night Furies?"

"None so far," the Viking reported. Then suddenly, one of the watch towers were blown apart, by what appeared to be a fast ball of blue flames. The tower's structure collapsed into the ocean down below, as one of the Vikings shouted, 'Night Fury!' and the Viking turned to Stoick as he replied, "Until now."

"Thank Odin," Stoick groaned sarcastically, "Raise the Sky Torches!"

And by that order, a few Vikings lit Olympic torch sized bowls, lighting monstrous fires bright enough to light the skies, as they were being raised up by extendable platform beams.

* * *

**Gobber's Blacksmith Shop**

* * *

Hiccup had finally arrived at the blacksmith shop as he ran towards the door and ran inside. He immediately slipped on his blacksmith's apron as he immediately ran to the drop off window, where his employer was waiting patiently. He was what anyone would see in a typical Viking; big and burly, not the most pleasant face to look at. He was a man, almost Stoick's height, but bigger around the midsection; a veritable beer gut. He had blonde hair and a longer blonde mustache that was braided, a mouth with a few unstraightened teeth, as well as a fake tooth sticking out. He wore a yellow sleeveless Viking shirt with brown and white pants that were nearly worn out, a Viking style boot on his left foot, while his right foot was a peg leg, a brown furred vest, a Viking helmet with triangular shaped horns on it. He also had a brown wrist band with several bands going up his right arm, while on his left arm, his hand had been completely replaced by a rope tied interchangeable prosthetic left hand, which was now a pair of coal tweezers. This was Gobber the Belch, a friend of Stoick the Vast, friend of the Haddock Family, and mentor/boss/uncle to Hiccup.

"Well, how nice of ay at join the party," Gobber greeted his young ward, in a thick Scottish accent. "For a moment there, I thought you'd been carried off."

Hiccup stopped in his tracks at his post near the window register. He looked to his mentor incredulously, "What who me? Nah, c'mon!" He scoffed at the very notion as he gestured to himself and flexing, not getting much out, "I'm _way _to muscular for their taste. I mean, come on! They wouldn't know what to do with all _this_."

"Well they need toothpicks don't they?" Gobber said, poking harmless fun at the young lad.

For as long as anyone could remember, Hiccup had been Gobber's apprentice ever since he was little, or littler, as the joke would have been passed around. Truth be told, Gobber wasn't the most pleasant to work around with, but that was probably due to Hiccup in a certain way. Instead of working in the shop, repairing broken or worn down weapons or tools, he wanted more than anything to be outside on days like this. Going out there, killing a dragon; it was something of a right of passage for young teenage Vikings, and it was one that Hiccup was sorely missing out on.

Not too far away, Stoick the Vast was helping out with one of the platform raised catapults. Unfortunately, one of the Monstrous Nightmares had made its way to it, jumping on the high beams. It breathed out a stream of flame as it shot up to it, being bathed in the flames. It shot up and landed on the platfrom; its whole body was lit ablaze, but it didn't hurt the mighty creature as it looked at the Viking chief, who was prepared for battle.

"Alright," Stoick responded as he was in battle stance, holding a battle hammer at the ready, "Come and get your brains bashed."

* * *

**Back at the Shop**

* * *

Suddenly, an explosion of flame had risen up from one of the houses. This caught Hiccup's attention as he leaned out the window to get a gander. The fire was dying down a bit to get a look at six individuals that were walking away from the fire, and in which one of them flipped their hair as they turned around to face his direction.

One of them was a huge stout and strong fellow, around Hiccup's age group. He was huge in height and big in the midsection, especially the upper region. He wore an all fur shirt that nearly covered his whole body, black pants, and Viking style boots. His cheeks were pretty huge shrinking his face down a bit, with shaggy blonde hair with a small Viking helmet on his small head. This was Fishlegs, an expert on dragon knowledge. Too bad he kept spouting out the information in RPG stats.

On the other side of them, were two teen fraternal twin brother and sister. They were both blonde and had sort of a thuggish look to them, while the girl still looked pretty cute. They both wore the same type of Viking helmet, with which the horns were elongated to look like antelope horns. The male wore a brown fur vest, a gray shirt with a brown belt, with grayish blue pants, brown arm straps from wrist to elbow, and Viking style boots, and had long blonde hair and brown eyes. The female had her long blonde hair braided, two long braids in front, as well as two smaller ones that stuck up like animal ears, and brown eyes like her brother, dark gray armbands that went to her palms and ended at her elbows, as well as armbands on her biceps. She had on a sleeveless yellow shirt skirt held on by a black belt, dirty green pants and dark Viking style boots. The girl's name was Ruffnut, and her brother was named Tuffnut; both were wild, reckless, adrenaline junkies, but not all that bright.

The other one was a blonde of fifteen, who stood out like the others did. Unlike the others, she had a few 2nd degree burn scars on her arms, and on the right side of her face, where an eye patch was placed over her right eye. She had on a red tight sleeveless shirt held by a black belt, gray brown pants, traditional Viking boots, black gloves to hide her hands in, black arm bands on her biceps, a black leather skirt, which had a few strange canisters looped into them. Her name was Syn, a sort of pyromaniac and explosive fanatic, who had a long-term history involving Dreaded Nightmares.

The other one was a boy perhaps a year older than Hiccup. Unlike the others, this guy was a muscle-bound bully, probably just as bright as one, which stemmed he had the mental capacity of a big, dumb, ape. He had slicked back dark brown hair, with a Viking helmet on his head, sporting ram horns. He wore a faded yellow shirt showing off his muscled physic, a dark brown furred vest, with dark black pants, Viking style boots, and brown wrist bands. This fellow was Snotlout Jorgenson, Hiccup's cousin, the only teenager who could excel at being a Viking his own age. For one obvious clue aside from being a complete meathead: he didn't bathe often at all. Well often was being too nice, the last time he bathed was five months ago.

And finally, the last Viking he saw leading the group, was the one that made him melt down into butter. It was a female Viking, only two centimeters smaller than him, but if there was one thing about this girl: size didn't matter with her. She looked very athletic; her body frame was thin for a Viking but she looked pretty agile. She had blonde hair with long bangs that cover the left side of her forehead, and a braided ponytail in the back, and dazzling blue eyes. She wore a leather band across her forehead, and faded bands around her forearms and palms, giving it a sort of boxing style. She also wore a grayish blue tight shirt with armored shoulder pads hooked on the sleeves. She even wore a red leather skirt with spikes and a pouch on her hip, with two small skull pendants on the belt. under the skirt, she wore tight black pants, and brown Viking boots. She was Astrid Hofferson, the toughest, and most beautiful, Viking teen girl that ever existed in this day and age.

And she was the only girl that melted Hiccup on the spot. He looked at her, a dreamy gaze just burning through his eyes as he sighed, nearly wooing out a whisper, "Astrid…" he sighed with once again, deep in thought, 'Aw man, their job is beyond awesome! Wish I could be out there. Along with… Astrid….'

Gobber was getting more of the weapons set up, until he noticed his apprentice leaning out the window. Wondering what got the boy's attention such, he peeked out and saw the other Viking teens, and noticed Hiccup's gaze was solely on Astrid. The Viking just sighed with disappointment; the poor guy's heart would be heartbroken the minute Astrid turned him down.

Deciding to save the young lad, Gobber grabbed him by the vest, gently swinging the boy 180 degrees back into the workshop, "Back to work, Hiccup."

"Oh, c'mon," the boy whined in frustration, "let me out, please? I need to make my mark."

Gobber chuckled a bit, as he set the lad down and poked him in the chest, "Oh, you've made plenty of marks, all in the wrong places."

"Please, just two minutes. That's all I ask," Hiccup pleaded, "I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. Heck! I might even get to talk to a girl, let alone get a date."

"Hiccup, I hate to tell you this, but you've got zero chance of being any kind of Viking," Gobber stated as he pointed out the many flaws that Hiccup had, "One: you're not physically fit for the job; you're as skinny as a stick, easily breakable. Two: you freeze up whenever a dragon gets close in your face. Three: you can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe, you can't thrust, swing, stab, or slice with a sword," he then lifted a pair of bolos, "You can't even throw one of these." And just as he held them up, a Viking snatched those just as he threw at one of the dragons called a Gronkle, bringing it down in mid-flight.

Hiccup had taken notice of this, "Okay, okay. You're right; I can't do any of those things," but then he ran over to where the weapons were as he explained, "But _this_ will throw it for me."

He then revealed an automatic weapon. It resembled a four-wheeled slingshot cannon. Hiccup placed his hand on it, and then the equipment sprung open… launching a set of bolos shooting out the serving window… and striking a Viking standing outside, and fell to the ground all tied up.

Gobber sighed in irritation as he walked over to Hiccup, "See, now this right here, is what I'm talkin' about."

"It-It was just a mild calibration issue," Hiccup defended, "I can fix that. But even if that doesn't work, I've got something to solve the old Shield/Axe/Sword dilemma…"

"Hiccup," Gobber stated as he raised his hands, "If you ever want to get out there, fighting dragons," and then traced his hands around Hiccup, "You need to stop all this."

The two were quiet for a moment, as Hiccup was absorbing this information, until finally, he objected, "You just pointed to all of me."

"Yes," Gobber answered as he gently poked him in the chest, "That's it! Just stop being all of you."

Hiccup had a clueless look on his face, until he mockingly went, "Oh. Ohhhh."

"Ohhhh," Gobber shot right back at him.

"Ohh," said Hiccup, doing his best warning, though a bit exasperated on it, "Y-you sir are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much raw Viking-ness contained." He finished by jabbing his finger in the air, emphasizing his point. "There will be consequences!"

"I'll take my chances," Gobber stated monotone and quickly. The young Viking was disappointed to see how unmoved Gobber was by his warning. "Sword, sharpen!" Gobber ordered, ending the conversation and handing the dull blade to his young apprentice.

Hiccup brought it to the grinder and started to sharpen it, and did so as he thought to himself, 'One day I'll get out there. I'll prove myself I can be like the others.' as he skillfully sharpened the blade with much accuracy and amazing strength, despite Gobber's point of him not being able to hold a weapon, 'because killing a dragon is everything.'

He knew every dragon types, well at least the more noticeable dragons. A Deadly Nadder was sure to get Hiccup at least noticed, if he caught or brought it down. Gronkles were tough; not the most pleasant to look at, but they were very powerful; if at all, taking down one of those would definitely get him a girlfriend. A Hideous ZippleBack was one of the more exotic and mysterious of the dragons. After all, it was the only one that had two heads: twice the status. Then there was the Monstrous Nightmare; it was said that only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire, which was their ultimate defense mechanism. No Viking would be crazy enough to get themselves burned like that.

But if Hiccup ever wanted to get noticed as a Viking, especially to the girls, then he'd have to go for the ultimate price. He'd have to go for the most mysterious of them all. The only dragon that had never been seen or recorded in the books: the one they called the Night Fury. From what he had heard about it from Viking rumors, was that it never stole food, never even showed itself, and most importantly: it _never _missed its intended target. No one had ever seen, let alone, killed a Night Fury, and Hiccup made it his plan on being the first.

Unfortunately, his train of thought was popped as soon as Gobber shouted to get the young lad his attention.

"Man the forge Hiccup, they need me out there," Gobber said changing his left hand to a mace. He jumped out of the registry window as he advised his pupil, "Stay. Put. There. You're smart enough to know what I mean," and with a loud, "_YAARGG!_" Gobber sprinted out and disappeared into the chaos of the battlefield.

"Got it," Hiccup called out, sounding rather innocent at that moment.

However, being the misbehaved, puberty driven, and crazy teenager that he was, he grabbed his automatic bolo cannon and ran outside. However, he stopped himself as he bonked his head with his palm, "Right, forgot about that."

He ran to the other side of the room and to the work desk. There, he scooped up one of his other inventions that he made. It was a black glove that went to the end of his elbow and had looked modified for something. The back of the palm had been reinforced of a constructed steel plate, with the rings of the fingers reinforced with metal rings. Strapped on the wrist and end of the glove were brown leather belts to ensure that the glove would stay in place. But the odd thing about it, was the isosceles shaped steel plate that was bolted on to the glove on the end, breaking in four different sections.

Hiccup immediately slipped on the glove, and tightened the belts on the wrist and end, making sure the glove was snug on. Afterwards, he immediately bolted right out the door, and at that moment, his intentions were solely set on one thing: spot and take down a Night Fury.

* * *

* * *

**Outside**

* * *

He ran to a clear place where there were no dragons, noises, or Vikings to distract him, and he waited for just the right time to shoot.

Hiccup then stared at the night sky, keeping an eye out for his main target: the Night Fury. After what felt like fifteen minutes had gone up, Hiccup sighed as he was on the verge of giving up and heading back to the shop. Luckily, fate had brought him a sack of gold, for the Night Fury was about to make its debut to the boy. At that moment, a mysterious darkened silhouette, in a translucently glowing blue outlining had caught the boy's attention. After that, the mysterious shape fired a shot of fire at one of the other nearby towers, Hiccup beamed.

Hiccup immediately set up the bolo cannon, and took careful aim this time. As soon as the silhouette came into view, Hiccup knew that this had to be the Night Fury. Not taking any chances or waiting anymore, he fired his weapon.

He watched the black figure fall to the other end of the island. "I… I hit it," he said in disbelief. He jumped up, shouting at the top as he never felt more alive at this moment. "YES, I HIT IT!!! Did anybody see that?" He asked feeling proud of himself, but when he turned around all his hopes dropped.

At that very moment, the Monstrous Nightmare had landed with a thud right, smashing the Bola cannon. The mighty and terrifying dragon towered behind the young Viking, then leaned down as a hiss escaped its mighty maw.

Hiccup knew he was in it deep as he gulped, "Except for you."

Hiccup then realizing the danger he was in, immediately brought up his right hand. The strange glove gizmo he had brought along with him was his best shot now. "Okay," he told himself as he balled his fist up, "Oh, Odin. Please let me know if this thing works."

He then flexed the glove's fingers into a claw shape, which caused a snapping sound. Then, a diamond shape of the tip of the plating of the glove shot forward, attached to a bladed part, forming into a three foot sword mounted on the glove. Hiccup held his gauntlet mounted sword up, and shouted as he rushed at the Nightmare, yelling a pathetic war cry. As soon as he was close to it, he brought the blade down and slashed downward.

As soon as he did, he looked down to see what damage had been done. However, nothing happened as the blade did nothing, not even a scratch on the nose of the Monstrous Nightmare. "Note to self: make the sword into a better metal," he muttered to himself.

He then backed away, turned around, and ran for his life, screaming along the way. However, the Nightmare was high on his heels, hissing and roaring as he rampaged after the boy. He ran through the village, dodging all the fighting, to which nobody even bothered to take notice of him, and hid behind a large wooden pole just in time as the Nightmare breathed hot fire towards him.

But just before the Monstrous Nightmare even had the chance to chomp down on the scrawny boy and savor the taste, Stoick the Vast jumped right in front of the Nightmare came to Hiccup's rescue.

Stoick and the Nightmare stared each other down, the two barely only six inches apart. The beast's maw was only an inch open, as it slowly opened its mouth. Stoick turned his face away as his face contorted to disgust. The Monstrous Nightmare's mouth was fully opened as its fangs were dripping with drool as its throat was about to breath out a flame of fire at the Viking. But at the last second, Stoick brought his fist down on the dragon's head, closing it, as he breathed out the flames, little tidbits of the fires seeping out with smoke as the beast couldn't swallow the flames that it was forced to gulp down. It backed away, as it took notice other Vikings, including Gobber, were making their way to the scene.

However, it opened its mouth, about to fire another shot, but all that came out, was a small whiz of flame, and smoke. The dragon went bug eyed at this point as he looked in fear at Stoick, who was smirking as he taunted, "That was your last shot…"

Realizing that it was severely outnumbered, with no shots of fire left, and not wanting to have the same experience that the red-haired Viking had shown it, it immediately took to the skies, retreating with the other dragons that had gotten away.

As the fire burned through it, the pole that supported one of the Sky Torches, and that Hiccup had hidden behind, fell over and the giant bowl of fire that sat on top of it began to roll down. As if Odin had smacked Hiccup in the face, it made it's way through the village. Hiccup flinched as he heard Vikings hollering and screaming as the fire ball tumbled down. Truly, this wasn't the young lad's best day at all, even if he shot down the Night Fury.

Hiccup and the other Vikings watched as the hoard of dragons flew away with the Tribe's sheep. He turned around, looking at everyone's angered stares at him, especially the one that his father was giving him.

Hiccup sighed as he honestly apologized, "Dad… I'm sorry," But he tried to make up for it as he decided to change the subject, "Okay, I screwed up… but I hit a Night Fury." However, those words meant nothing at this moment, as Stoick grabbed Hiccup and began to drag him away.

"It's not like the last few times, Dad." Hiccup protested, trying to get his father's attention. "I mean it. I really actually hit it. You guys were busy, I spotted it after it took down one of the other towers, and I had a very clear shot with my bolo cannon. It went down just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there before it-"

"STOP!!!" Stoick interrupted, as father and son stopped in their tracks. Hiccup nearly was as straight as a board from his father's booming angered voice. Finally, Stoick had calmed down as he scolded his son in a father's tone, "Just… stop. Every time you step outside disaster falls. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed!"

"Well between you and me the village could do with a little less feeding, don'tcha think?" Hiccup said using his dry humor. The very said humor that made him so unpopular, even if that joke got some of the Vikings, male and female, looking at their guts and trying to suck them in.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" Stoick shot out to his son, as he continued, "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

"I can't stop myself!" Hiccup tried to defend himself on this one, but it wasn't getting through to his father, "I see a dragon and I have to just, kill it, ya' know? It's who I am, Dad. I thought that's what you wanted me to be like."

Stoick sighed as he looked hard to his son, and spoke to him in a disappointed but quiet tone, "You are many things, Hiccup, but a dragon killer is not one of them." this earned a little saddened silence between father and son, as Hiccup lowered his head in shame and disappointment to himself as well as to his dad. "Now I expect you to get back to the house," He then looked to Gobber as he ordered, "Make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up."

Hiccup just sighed in defeat; it was pretty made evident his father wasn't going to listen to him. Gobber padded him on the shoulder as he directed him to the Haddock household.

As Hiccup and Gobber walked by, the other teenagers made fun of him, "Quite the performance," commented Tuffnut.

"I have never seen anybody mess up that badly. That helped!" Said Snotlout.

"Thank you, thank you, I was… trying," Hiccup sighed as he passed them with his head down.

However, as he walked away, he took notice of Astrid, who was sitting on one of the walls next to the teens, fiddling with her battle ax. It was for a moment that Hiccup realized she wasn't one of the other poking fun at him. She stopped looking at her ax and looked at him for a moment. He thought that she would say something to make him feel worse… or hopefully feel better. But she said nothing as her glance to him was fast as she glanced back at her ax. With that, Hiccup sighed in defeat as he looked back, with Gobber escorting him back to his home.

As the two left, Stoick looked to his son, with a saddened disappointed look on his face, until a voice spoke up, "It's just so disappointing that they don't grow up the way you want them to. Isn't it, Stoick?"

Stoick turned around, and wasn't all that pleased to see who it was. It was a Viking, much like Hiccup would be; skinny, not much of a brawler at all; he was around thirty or forty years old, but only a little muscled. Much like an athletic runner with his upper body matching up to it. He had brown mid length hair cut in the shape of a bowl, with a braid on the left side of his bangs. Exposed on the right side of his forehead, a mole was spotted, and he had a short beard. He was dressed in a brown and red Viking uniform, which befitted more than a priest than a Viking warrior. He had a brown cloak with a hood to it as well, brown arm bands that went to his elbow, and on his hands were dark fingerless gloves. His boots also had leather straps on the ankle parts, and on his belt was a rope wrapped in a spiral, and apparently a thick wooden sword of sorts, that looked to be of Asian design for some odd reason, considering he was Norwegian than Asian. This was Unfer Gedloff, an outcast of sorts, but one of the advisors of the Berk Council, considering of his frame, he had somehow managed to pass dragon training as a teenager. Unfortunately, he wasn't the most liked of all the Vikings, for obvious reasons. He used his brains much like Hiccup, and everyone just seemed to treat him as scum between their toes.

"If Hiccup's to become the next Chief," Unfer half-smirked, mocking the mighty Stoick as he crossed his arms, "… then I fear we're all doomed."

"Unfer," Stoick said the name with much venom in it, "I'd be careful where to tread on your words."

"Well, look at it this way," Unfer stated with a satisfied smile as he pointed to Hiccup's leaving form. "After you've outcasted your son and I'm the rightful chief of Berk, you'll have that much more time to spend with your pathetic excuse of a son."

Stoick looked at the thin Viking with much seething hatred at this point. But regained some calm as he asked, "Before I tear your spine out, and put it back through your throat, I just want to ask: Why do you want to be Chief?"

"Not much," Unfer stated, but made a list of reasons, "Well, for starters: I'm better looking, aside from your son, I'm deceitfully smart, albeit I'm more ruthless… and, I want the power to have everyone, including all the muscle-bound idiots that have picked on me since my childhood, to do what I say. Even if they fear me."

However, he was grabbed by the collar of his shirt, by Stoick, as he threatened the thin Viking, "Well, by that time, Hiccup will be the Viking I know him to be, and you'll still be in line."

Stoick shoved him aside, as he walked away, leaving Unfer on his butt. The other Vikings laughed aloud at the outcast Viking as they all left him in the dust. Unfer glared at the Viking chief's retreating form as he grumbled, but with a dangerous glare, and letting out half a smirk, as he whispered, "Dream while you can."

* * *

**Haddock Residence**

* * *

The House of Haddock was a three-story house that had looked like it had never been touched by the fires of the dragons. Thought it was probably because it was easy to rebuild to make it look like nothing had happened. When the two got to the Haddock house, the sun just started to come up. At the point, Hiccup was still fuming out on his past deed, in which no one, not even Gobber believed in, "I really did hit a Night Fury."

"Sure ya did," Gobber mumbled as he rolled his eyes, not believing it at all.

Hiccup shouted in disbelief, "He never listens!"

"It runs in the family," Gobber mumbled.

He then stopped at the door as he shot out, "And whenever he does, it's always with this disappointed scowl like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich." As Hiccup got to the front door he stood to face Gobber, and then began to mock in his father's voice, trying to do his best to copy a Scottish accent, "Excuse me Barmaid, I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms. Extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fish-bone." He finished, putting his head down, as he mumbled, "And… he's right."

"Now yer thinkin' about this all wrong," Gobber explained trying to comfort his friend's son, "It's not so much what yah look like, it's what's in_side_ that he can't stand."

Gobber wasn't to smart, but at least he tried. Hiccup at least brightened up a bit as a small smirk escaped the lad's lips, "Thanks, for summing that up."

"Look the point is, stop trying so hard to be somethin' you're not," Gobber advised, and then walked to wherever his home was, leaving the boy to go into his home.

"I just wanna be one of you guys," Hiccup said sadly, and he closed the door behind him. Just to escape through the back door to go and find the rarest dragon that he just so happened to catch.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Kill or Release the Night Fury; Father and Son's Deal**

* * *

**Well, this is the First Chapter of the Novelization that I'm trying to do. That said, I have one complaint I'd like to make to those of Youtube: Why hasn't anyone made a HTTYD amv with the song, Kings and Queens performed by 30 seconds to Mars? That song would go great with this movie.**

**Unfer Geldoff: David Thewlis**


	2. Kill or Release the Night Fury

**Disclaimer: I don't own How to Train Your Dragon; it is the sole property of both Dreamworks and… yes, thanks to one review, Cressida Cowell. Original Characters, whether human or Dragon, are of my own design.**

* * *

**How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Kill or Release the Night Fury; Father and Son's Deal**

**Berk Council Hall**

* * *

While Hiccup ran through the forests of Berk, searching for the Night Fury, Stoick the Vast was leading a meeting, discussing to the other adult Vikings about what they had to do about these dragons. And begrudgingly to the other Vikings in disgust, Unfer was attending the council along with them. Currently, it was about the situation on what to do with the Dragon Problem. And usually, that plan was to destroy them completely, as Stoick made it very evident with every word coming out of his mouth.

"Either we finish them or they finish us!" Stoick calmly yelled out to the other Vikings, his voice echoing throughout the stone building. "It's the only way we'll be rid of them," He plunged his knife into a map of the surrounding oceans, right where the dragons' nest was thought to be. "One more search before the ice sets in. If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will have to leave, they'll find another home."

However, one of the warriors was uncertain, as he stated a firm reminder. "But those ships never come back."

"We're Vikings, it's an occupational hazard," Stoick stated, tossing away all fear. "Now who's with me?!" He looked at the room full of Vikings, no one seemed to agree with him at this point. Either they thought the plan wouldn't work, or they were just too afraid. "Alright," he said, sighing at the quiet, "Those who wish to stay… will simply have to have the honor of looking out after my son, Hiccup."

It was only until Stoick had uttered his son's name, did the room burst with agreements and battle-cries.

"I'm with you Stoick!" yelled Spitelout, Stoick's second in command; he was also his brother and the son of Snotlout, making Hiccup his uncle, and Snotlout his cousin.

"That's more like it." the chief replied, very satisfied with both the response and to himself.

The room began to empty as the Vikings left, leaving just Stoick, Unfer, who was slowly but calmly making his way out, and Gobber. "Alright, I'll go pack my undies," Gobber stated with a smile on his face, as he stood up getting ready to leave the room. He then switched his prosthetic hand with a large wooden mug.

"No, I need you to stay and train some new recruits." Stoick walked over to Gobber, who sat down again. Stoick then looked to Unfer's retreating form as he called out, "You too, Unfer."

Unfer stopped showing a face of defeat and anger in his eyes as they narrowed, but he turned around to face the two other Vikings calmly, and replied, "My chief, I didn't realize you wanted me to stay as acting chief."

"No, I just want you hear, so you won't screw up the mission," Stoick said dead-on, earning a scowl of disappointment from the thin and devious looking Viking.

"Oh perfect, and while I'm busy, Hiccup can cover the store," Gobber said sarcastically, taking a swig from his mug, even as his fake tooth fell into the mug, "Molten steel, razor sharp blades, lots of time to himself. What could possibly go wrong?"

"As much as I hate to admit, Gobber is correct, my chief," Unfer stated. "Your son is much more dangerous than any dragon we've ever seen."

Feeling lost, Stoick sighed as he turned to his best friend and asked, "What am I gonna do with 'im Gobber?"

Gobber thought about it for a moment, and calmly shrugged, "Put 'im in training with the others," Answered Gobber.

"I think he's serious," Unfer stated to the Belch.

"So am I."

"He'd be killed before you let the first dragon out of it's cage," Stoick protested. "He's not strong enough for this kind of…"

"Oh ya don't know that," Gobber defended.

"I do know that," Stoick insisted.

"No ya don't"

"No actually I do."

"No ya don't!"

As the two friends continued to bicker, Unfer thought about it to himself. Hiccup wasn't in reality the strongest of the Viking teens, and not the most durable. In fact, the boy could easily be snapped like a twig if it was done in reality. This earned a thought of scheming into his head, as well as a devious smirk upon his face.

"Listen, you know what he's like. From the time he could crawl he's been, different," Stoick sighed in frustration, and turned to look away from Gobber and Unfer, "He doesn't listen; he has the attention span of a sparrow. I take 'im fishin' and he goes hunting for, for trolls."

"Trolls _do_ exist!" interrupted Gobber "They steal yer socks. But only the left ones. Why they do it, I'm still mullin' it over. I mean, what's with that?"

"When I was a boy," Stoick started.

"Oh, here we go." muttered Gobber to himself, as he took another swig from his mug.

"Not this story again," Unfer groaned looking down, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples. "This is worse than that song he came up with."

"When I was a boy," Stoick started again, ignoring the groans from the two Vikings, ",my father told me to bang my head against a rock, and I did it. I thought it was crazy, but I didn't question him, and you know what happened?"

"You got a headache?" Said Gobber, unamused, while trying to fish out his fake tooth which had fallen into his mug.

"You, um… developed a concussion? A fatal brain tumor?" Unfer asked, not making it sound like he was hoping for such a thing to happen. "Perhaps a small… blood clot that's been taking its time to kill you in your sleep? Or simply to turn you into a drooling vegetable?"

"That rock split in two," Stoick said, ignoring Gobber, as well as ignoring the death wishes Unfer had been hoping on to him. "It taught me what a Viking could do, you two. He could crush mountains, level forests, tame seas! Even as a boy I knew what was, what I had to become. Hiccup is not that boy."

"You can't stop him Stoick, you can only prepare him," Gobber started as he began to finish, "I know it seems hopeless but the truth is you won't always be around to protect 'im. He's gonna get out there again. He's probably out there now."

Stoick looked to his friend, and then turned away in thought, lost in it was more like it. However, Unfer himself was lost in thought about it as well as he walked out of the council hall, thinking of the possibilities while Stoick was away

* * *

**Later On**

**The Crack of Dawn**

**Deep in the Forests of Berk**

* * *

Through the thick and darkened forests, the young Viking in talk back at the council was fervently searching all over for his game. Hiccup had made his way throughout the islands, keeping track of where he had been in his pocket book. Putting X's on a map of where he had looked for the dragon, and so far, it was without any luck. Frustrated, he scribbled out his map and put it away in his vest.

"Oh, the Gods hate me. Everybody else does," he said to himself, "Some people lose their knife or their mug." he then groaned in frustration as he hit a tree branch out of his way, "No, not me! I manage to lose an entire dragon!!!" and then to make matters worse for himself, that very same branch he swatted away, came back and smacked him hard in the face.

"Ow!" Hiccup said as he rubbed the sore spot he was smacked in.

He groaned as he glared up at the tree, and realized something as his anger subside. The tree had been snapped in half; almost as if something large and heavy plowed right through it at an angle. Then he realized that must have been the case, for underneath it, a deep trail was cut into the ground, like something had crash-landed there.

Hiccup crawled down the path; hoping that it might have been the Night Fury's body. It ended just as it met a small hill going down. He peered over the edge, just to immediately disappear back behind it. Slowly looking over again, he saw a black motionless figure lying on the ground, tangled in ropes of his own bolo cannon.

The beast was definitely dragon in design and function. The beast's wingspan must have been fourteen to sixteen feet, and the dragon itself was large and sleek, adding to its tail's length as well. Its scaly body was completely colored black; its design was something similar to perhaps a newt, or possibly a dog due to the legs design. Hiccup also took notice that aside from the main large wings, there was a second small set of wings behind the main ones, and the tail had sort of wing-like tips at the end… or at least one wing-like tip. Aside from that, Hiccup also took notice that it had a short neck and, unlike other dragons, it had no nose horn. It even had two floppy like ears, along with two floppy flesh parts in the back of its head that resembled horns of such, and underneath the bigger ones were a pair of mid and small earlike flaps. From the top of its skull to the mid part of his tail, there were small scale fringes. And, for a moment, Hiccup thought that he had seen one of the eyes open, to reveal them to be a catlike green.

He made a claw-like fist with his glove, which caused the sword to once again shoot out. With his weapon out and about, he slowly and cautiously made his way down the hill, hiding behind a rock before walking up to the unmoving creature.

"Oh-oh wow. I did it," Hiccup smiled at this accomplishment, walking now close to six inches of the body of the fallen Night Fury. "Ohh, I did I!!! This fixes everything! Yes!" He then placed his foot on the dragon's belly, feeling extremely proud as he spoke out in a deep mighty voice, "I have brought down this mighty beast!"

But his victory was short lived, for as he realized too soon, the dragon stirred underneath him, and began to breath heavily.

He looked over to the dragons head and gulped as his face went pale and his eyes bulged out of his skull. It wasn't his imagination when he thought he saw his eyes open; one large green eye stared at Hiccup. Hiccup jumped back, nearly falling over on his butt, had he not regained his balance. It seemed that the Night Fury had not made any attempts to free itself, or any attempt to attacking him.

The dragon made low rumbling noises, and Hiccup held his glove blade out, positioning himself in front of it. "Alright, I'm… I'm gonna kill you, Dragon," he said uncertainly, not sure if he was gonna make good on his threat, "I mean it… I'm gonna cut out your heart and take it to my father. I'm a Viking," he whispered, holding his glove blade up, attempting to thrust the blade deep into the dragon's chest. But then, he finally shouted in a more determined voice, "I am a Viking!"

It was when he did this, he took notice that the Night Fury looked up at him, and noticed that its eyes were full of fear. 'I… I can do this,' he thought to himself, his right hand which wore his gadget gauntlet was starting to shake with uncertainty, 'No! no, I can't flake out on this. I _can_ do this!!!'

Hiccup took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and held the blade in place, almost scratching the surface of the dragon's underbelly. He held his arm with his left hand, steadying it in order to stop shaking as he readied to plunge it deep into the heart. He opened his right eye and looked at the black beast. It looked so frightened, and as Hiccup closed his eyes once again and prepared to strike, the dragon's head lolled back and it's eyes shut, almost accepting its fate.

Hiccup let out a huge groaning sigh, as he brought down the glove mounted sword… away from the dragon's belly. Hiccup just sighed as he looked at the Night Fury, no longer able to kill the helpless dragon. He looked at the ropes that bounded it together, and said to himself, with regret dripping from his voice and his face, "I did this."

The Night Fury's eyes were close tightly, awaiting its fate. Until it heard a snapping sound as its eyes shot open. The dragon looked to see what was going on and was slightly shocked. Hiccup had retracted the blade enough to make it dagger sized, and began to cut the ropes that held its claws, teeth, and wings contained.

As he did this, the Night Fury's mind was buzzing all over with questions. It was prepared to die, and now this young Viking was sparing its life. this was very unexpected. Why did this human spare it?

"Okay," Hiccup said to the dragon, almost as if he knew it could understand him, "Just one more and you're free."

However, it wasn't gonna be that easy for Hiccup, not until the last rope was cut. Once the dragon was free, it lunged right at him. The Night Fury restrained him against the rock the young lad snuck up, with its claws right at his neck. The dragon stared at Hiccup with its large, vibrant catlike green eyes, filled with anger. Hiccup struggled under the dragon's hold, failing to free himself he looked at the dragon.

The dragon opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp white teeth. Hiccup gulped, knowing full well that this would be the part, where the Night Fury would probably either burn him into cinders, or simply give him a slow death by biting the flesh off of his face. However, none of that happened at all, for at the last second, it loosened its grip on Hiccup and let out a ferocious roar. Once it was satisfied with itself, it took off into the forest. It attempted to fly away, however, for some odd reason, it hit rock cliffs and trees, until it fell somewhere deep in the forest.

Breathing heavily, Hiccup shot out the sword blade from his glove, using it as a cane to help himself stand up. However, the situation that he had put himself in, caused all the strength in him to simply drain into the ground. He made it not even three steps before his knees became wobbly, and his legs gave out underneath him. He then lost all his strength, physically and mentally, until finally, he fainted, and everything went black for him.

* * *

**A Little Later**

* * *

When he had finally woken up, he had realized it was almost dark. He thought all that had just happened was a nasty dream, and that maybe he had just fallen asleep. Walking around the forest until dawn could do that to a young teenager of sixteen. But as he climbed the hill and saw the path that tore up the ground, he suddenly realized that everything that had just happened… was real.

Not wanting to stick around until the Night Fury would attack him in revenge, he ran out of there, and kept running, unaware of his surroundings, and didn't care much about that. All he did was just traveled in a straight path, in his mind he was reliving what had just happened over and over again.

However, as he ran off, he was unaware of a shadowed figure hiding amongst the forest trees. A figure in a cloak and hood, who seemed to have been standing there, almost too long to tell.

* * *

**Back in the Village**

**Haddock Household**

* * *

When he arrived at the village he realized that he couldn't kill dragons. 'But why?' He thought 'Why didn't… No. why _couldn't_ I kill that dragon when I had the chance? Why...?' He then scratched the back of his head, even deeper thoughts were nagging at the back of his head even more, 'And why didn't it kill me? I thought it would have taken the liberty to just bite my head off. So why didn't it?' His mind trailed off and he reached his home. He didn't want to confront his father so he planned on sneaking upstairs to his bedroom without Stoick noticing.

He opened the large wooden door, as quietly as he could. As he snuck in as quietly as he could, he saw his father, sitting down in his deer and moose skinned recline chair. He just sat there, poking at the hearth in quiet thought. This was just what Hiccup needed, and he started to run up the stairs.

"Hiccup," Stoick calmly called to his son, easily noticing his return.

Hiccup stopped in his tracks at that moment. His face filled with regret and dread at this point. "Dad! Uh..." He nervously started as he did his best to hide it, "I have to talk to you. Dad."

"I need to speak with you too, Son." Stoick walked towards the stairs.

Both father and son took a deep breath, and at the same time, said what was on their minds. "I decided I don't want to fight dragons/I think you're ready to fight dragons."

However, when they said their opinions choices, it was together. This made it impossible to understand each other. "What?" They both asked in harmonic unison.

"Uh, you go first," Stoick said.

"No, you go first," Hiccup shook his head as he argued, crawling further down the stairs.

"Alright," Stoick replied, his son noticing that he seemed nervous about something. Until finally, he said it, "You got your wish. Dragon Training; you start in the morning."

Hiccup looked pretty startled by this, but now seemed to dread it a bit. At first, he would have been excited to do such a thing. But after the events with the Night Fury… he just wanst sure. He sighed as he tried to force a grin on his face, but all that came out was rambling, "Oh man, I should have gone first," he whispered to himself, and spoke aloud to his dad, "Uh , are you sure that's a good idea, Dad? 'Cause I was thinking, ya' know, 'we have a surplus of dragon fighting Vikings. But do we have enough bread making Vikings? Or small home repair Vikings?"

"You'll need this," Stoick said, handing his son a large ax. Or, well it was large to Hiccup, as he nearly stumbled over the weight, while holding it.

"I appreciate the ax, Dad. But I've already got a weapon," Hiccup defended as he tried to point to his glove, "But the truth is, I… I just… don't wanna fight dragons."

Stoick was a bit silent for a moment, until finally, he laughed a little, "Haha! c'mon, yes, you do," he then walked towards the fire.

Hiccup sighed as he tried to make it sound clear to his dad, "Rephrase: Dad, I can't kill dragons."

"But you will kill dragons," Stoick insisted.

"No, I'm really very extra sure that I won't," Hiccup continued to defend his choice.

"It's time Hiccup," Stoick was getting more serious, ignoring his son's choice.

"Can you not hear me?!" Yelled Hiccup, until he saw his father calmly turn to his direction.

"This, is serious, Son," Stoick stated as he tried to explain, "When you carry this ax, you're not just carrying your own strength, you carry all of us with you. Which means you walk like us, you talk like us, and you think like us." he hten gestured at Hiccup, doing the same thing that Gobber had done once before, "No more of _this_."

"You just gestured to all of me," said Hiccup, annoyed.

"Deal?" asked Stoick

"This conversation is feeling very one-sided," Hiccup argued, not liking how this was going.

"Deal?!" Stoick asked again, raising his voice to emphasize his point across.

Hiccup was silent for a moment, until finally he sighed in defeat and setting the ax down, "Deal."

"Good." Stoick said as he picked up a pack, and headed for the door. "Train hard. I'll be back. Probably."

"And I'll be here. Maybe." Hiccup said, watching his father leave the house, wondering if he would ever come back and what he was going to do about the deal he just made with him.

But Hiccup put all those thoughts aside as he just walked on upstairs to his room.

**Hiccup's Room**

* * *

It was the first door in the hallway upstairs as he turned the knob, and opened the door. As soon as he got in there, he looked around his room.

It was a simple design for his room; his bed was in the middle next to the left side of his room. His desk was on the right side with a sketchbook with many designs in it, as well as tools strewn about it. At the end of the room was a circular window, big enough for a person to get out with no need to squeeze through. There were a few bear skinned lounge chairs in the corner to where the window was, along with a few books about Dragons, fighting, atop an antler table next to one of the chairs. The walls were covered in posters about great Vikings and their victories, and a few maps of the world's greatest locations to where dragons were located.

Hiccup walked over to his desk and sat down at the chair, and turned to where he was sketchbook was. Immediately, he pulled out a pencil of sorts, and leaned over his desk and started to draw.

After a few minutes, Hiccup had drawn a black and white picture of the Night Fury; very accurately and with much detail to it. He then posted it next to the one of Astrid. He leaned in on his chair as he looked at the picture of the Night Fury he had released. He looked at the picture, both with fascination, and a little depressed. He figured that even though he told himself that he would see a dragon like that again, he knew that it was easier said than done.

He then looked at the picture of the dragon, and said to it hopefully, "I hope I can see you again."

* * *

**Next Chapter: First Day of Dragon Training; No One Wants You**


	3. First Day of Dragon Training

**How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 3: First Day of Dragon Training; No One Wants You**

* * *

**Dragon Training Coliseum**

* * *

On the other side of the village, on the side of a mountainous cliff connected to the village by a stone bridge, a giant stone-shaped coliseum stood there. The dome was constructed with impenetrable stone, and on top of the dome, was a metal cage. The walls and the cage roof were completely destructive-proof, as it was built into the side of the cliff that towered above it. Inside and out, were doors that were bolted into and secured by plank locks. This was the Dragon Training coliseum, where all Vikings at the teenage age trained to fight dragons. And today, the young wards were making their way through, followed by Gobber as he reached for the door, with his prosthetic hand changed into a ruler sized hook.

"Welcome to Dragon Training!" Gobber said to his teenage students.

The doors opened to the Dragon Training Ring, allowing the teenagers to enter the training grounds. Astrid, followed by Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Syn, and Fishlegs entered the arena, with weapons in hand.

"No turning back," Astrid said to herself, walking confidently, ready to finally learn how to slay dragons.

The group of young Vikings walked into the middle of the ring, all gazing around them and getting a good look at the stone walls and the chain ceiling that surrounded them.

"I hope I get some serious burns," said the male twin Tuffnut.

"I'm hoping for some mauling," said his sister Ruffnut, "like, on my shoulder or lower back."

"Well, you're all out of luck," Syn stated as she rubbed her right arm tenderly. "'Cause out of all of ya, I'm hopin' to add a few more burn scars in a few other places."

"Yeah," sighed Astrid, "It's only fun if you get a scar out of it."

"No kidding, right?"

Everyone heard that, and turned around to the door. There, they saw none other than Hiccup, equipped with his battle gauntlet, as well as the ax his father gave him. He grudgingly stepped into the ring last, adding wryly, "Pain. Love it."

"Oh great," Tuffnut said, looking at Hiccup. "Who let him in?"

"Now, now. That's no way to treat Stoick's son. Or your future chief," a familiar voice called from one of the doors, gaining the attention of both the Viking teens and Gobber. It was Unfer himself as he calmly walked in, and stood by Hiccup, patting him on the shoulder, "Hiccup, although albeit lacking in his father's more dominant traits, will someday prove to be an irreplaceable chieftain one day once his father has stepped down."

"Didn't know you'd take an interest in this class," Gobber asked as he strode over the cages.

"Well, you know me," Unfer walked away from Hiccup as he went to a more safer spot, "I always say: the children are our future. I just like to see where we're going." And with that, he calmly made his way to the bleachers.

"Alright, let's get started!" yelled Gobber, ignoring the last statement that Unfer had made. "The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village."

"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury so… does that disqualify him or...?" Snotlout asked innocently, when in truth he was poking fun at him. As he did this, the other students laughed as they walked further into the arena.

As if to add more salt into the wound, Snotlout taunted aloud, "Can I change to the class with the cool Vikings?" That made the others laugh even harder.

"Don't worry," said Gobber reassuringly, putting a hand on Hiccup's shoulder as they started to walk forward, "You're small and you're weak. That'll make you less of a target. They'll go after the more Viking-like teens instead."

"Gee, that's great," Hiccup said dryly, the sarcasm going unnoticed by Gobber at all.

With a rough push, Gobber sent Hiccup towards the rest of the group.

"Behind these doors," Gobber said passing in front of his students, "…are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight." Gobber walked towards a large door, that was shaking on its hinges; obviously it was a very angry dragon waiting behind it. "Here we have the Deadly Nadder,"

"Speed: 8, armor: 16..." Said a very eager Fishlegs.

"The Hideous ZippleBack," Gobber said pointing to an even larger door.

"… Eleven stealth – times 2... "

"The Monstrous Nightmare," Gobber stated to a door that was smoking on both the wood and the hinges.

"- Fire-power: 15... "

"The Vicious Volcanoback," Gobber pointed to a steel door, which oozed out from the cracks, little drippings of lava and flame.

"Heat Temperature: 25, Long Range Attack: 30"

"And finally," Gobber finished, as he stopped in front of an iron clad door, with many warning symbols on it. "The Terrible Terror!"

"- Attack: 8, venom: 12! - "

"Would you stop that!?" Gobber, feeling very annoyed, as he walked to a wooden and metal door that was knocking so hard, it almost seemed like there was a battering ram on the other side of it. "And then, there's the Gronkle." Gobber put his hand on the lever that would open the door.

"Jaw-strength: 8." Fishlegs whispered to Hiccup.

"Whoa whoa, wait!" yelled Snotlout, looking terrified. "Aren't you gonna teach us first?"

"He doesn't believe in that sort of thing," Hiccup mumbled, with only Fishlegs hearing that as he gulped.

"I believe in learning on the job," Gobber answered, with a smile on his face, and his hand on the lever. However, Hiccup only knew that too well, being Gobber's apprentice in the Black-smith's shop. As proof of this, they all witnessed Gobber push down on the lever, opening the door.

Suddenly, bursting down the doors as they slowly opened, a mighty dragon flew in. or rather, hovered forward and in the air, as it would be. The dragon was colored a light puke brown, and had a short body, a gigantic head, and a round tail. It had yellow eyes, two wing-like horns atop of its eyebrows, and a smaller horn on the tip of its nose. Its mouth had two large bottom teeth, giving it the look of a bulldog. Under its chin and on top of its back and tail, it had purple small stubby spikes, that kind of resembled like acne. However, unlike the Dreaded Nightmare or any other dragon, its wings were relatively small, but were beating as fast as a hummingbird's by the looks of it right now. It looked pretty small, but the way it was moving, it was very good in maneuverability. This was a Gronkle, a bit lazy but nevertheless never to be underestimated on the battlefield.

The Gronkle maneuvered about the ring, flapping its wings like a hummingbird. All the young Viking teenagers dispersed about the ring, preparing to take combat of this flying mini-tanked creature.

"Today is all about survival against your opponent. If you get blasted, then you're dead." Gobber warned his students, as the Gronkle flew around angrily. "Quick!" he shouted, beginning his little quiz, "What's the first thing you're going to need?"

"A doctor?!" Hiccup suggested, not too sure about this exercise.

"Plus 5 speed?!" Fishlegs guessed, slowly starting to freak out now as he spoke in RPG lingo.

"Burn ointment?!" Syn guessed, feeling excited at this point, with the glint in her eye and the smirk on her face.

"A Shield!" Astrid said, all raring to go on this exercise.

"Shield! Go!" Gobber ordered, pointing out to a pile of shields, and the teenagers ran around to where the shields were. "The most important piece of equipment is your shield!" Gobber advised the students. Hiccup immediately tried to get one of the shields on, but fumbled about with it, until finally he sighed and let it drop, as Gobber walked over. "If you must make a choice between a sword and a shield," Gobber said while helping Hiccup lift his shield off the ground, "… take the shield!"

"It's okay, I brought my own," Hiccup insisted as he gave Gobber the shield back.

Hiccup turned to his glove, and then twisted the metal plate so that it pointed in the direction of his elbow. And then, he extended his arm out, and made a fist with his right hand. Suddenly, the blade extended out halfway, as it suddenly split in half. It extended until it reached to the fist side, creating a shield. On the back end, the sword blade stuck out, while in the front, two small blades were in front to where the fist was. Hiccup then pushed the shield a bit forward, making it so that it wasn't at his elbow, but now in the middle of his forearm.

As hiccup picked up the ax, Gobber rubbed his temple, muttering, "Oy, Hiccup," he then gestured to all of Hiccup as he stated, "Remember our talk?"

"I know, I know," Hiccup moaned in annoyance as he headed to where the others were, "I gotta stop being all _this_."

Meanwhile, as the other teens grabbed their shields, Tuffnut and Ruffnut ran to where the shields. Unfortunately, they both made it the habit to grab the one with skulls and fire painted on it. This caused the two to fight it out over possession of the shield as the two were now playing a game of tug-o-war.

"Take your hands off my shield!" Tuffnut yelled.

"There's like a million shields!" Ruffnut argued.

"Take that one; it has flowers on it. Girls like flowers." Tuffnut said, gesturing to a different shield. Ruffnut managed to get the shield out of Tuffnut's hands. And then she smacked him over the head with it. "Ahh!" Tuffnut yelled, feeling the sting from the blow on his noggin.

"Oops," Ruffnut innocently apologized, until her edge came back in her voice, "…now this one has blood on it."

Tuffnut grabbed the shield once again, and the twins both continued to fight pointlessly over the shield. The Gronkle, not having much patience in a siblings squabble, fired a shot of blazing flames that destroyed the shield Ruff and Tuff had been fighting over. The blast was powerful enough to send them both spinning in the air, until finally, they crashed face-first into the ground.

"Tuffnut! Ruffnut! You're out!" Gobber yelled.

"What?" They said, in a daze as they groggily got back up on their feet.

"Those shields are good for another thing. Noise," Gobber advised the teenagers as the Gronkle was hovering around, either planning to attack, or basically escape the coliseum dome. "Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim."

The remaining Viking teens began to hit their shields with their weapons, confusing the Gronkle. The Gronkle's vision became disoriented with every banging sound made. Now, the young Viking teens were nothing more than shaking blurs in its eyesight.

"All dragons have a limited number of shots," Gobber continued with the lesson, as he quizzed, "How many does a Gronkle have?"

"Five?" Guessed Snotlout.

"No, six!" Fishlegs yelled out, holding his shield up in the air, feeling glad that his knowledge was coming to good use.

"Correct, six!" Gobber said, "That's one for each of you!" However, as Gobber said this, the Gronkle took the opportunity, when its head was cleared up, and destroyed Fishlegs's shield, which he had been lifting into the air. When this happened, Fishlegs ran out of there with his hands raised in the air, screaming his head off in fear.

"Fishlegs… you're out!"

"Hiccup! Get in there!" Gobber yelled at Hiccup.

During the commotion, Hiccup had taken the opportunity to hide behind some wood left in the stadium. As Hiccup stepped away from the wood, he was almost blasted to pieces by the Gronkle. Hiccup, with having one advantage, was fast on his feet. It was from years, running away from the occasional bullies that picked on him. Now thankfully, it was being used to outrun the Gronkle's blasts.

Behind the safety of the armored bleachers, Unfer was sitting down, observing Gobber's teaching methods. Unfer saw this, with great interest as he stroked his beard, observing the students, but mostly Hiccup. A cocked eyebrow and a scrunched up mouth meant only one thing: Unfer was scheming something big… and it involved Hiccup.

The only ones left now, were him, Astrid, Syn, and Snotlout, who was standing close to Astrid. He was yet again trying to flirt with her, but was more focused on the training exercise once again.

"So yeah, I'm moving into my parent's basement," Snotlout flirted to Astrid, who clearly wasn't paying any attention to him. "You should come by some time to workout. You look like you workout." As Snotlout said that, Astrid cart wheeled/rolled to the side just as the Gronkle shot in her direction. Her movement left Snotlout exposed, and his shield was obliterated, as he was sent flying in the other direction.

"Snotlout! Yer done!" Gobber confirmed.

Syn, who stood there at this, completely went pouting in disappointment as she huffed, "Aw, man. I wanted to get blasted."

With a small battle 'Heeya!', Astrid rolled to the side, until she was now standing beside Hiccup. To Hiccup now, this was kinda an awkward moment; he and Astrid were now standing side by side. He really didn't know what to do at this point, even so much as to stop being in his clumsy battle stance.

"So I guess it's just you and me, huh?" He said, doing his best to sound cool, with an awkward half-smile on his face.

"Nope," Astrid said quickly. "Just you."

She ran out of the way, leaving Hiccup vulnerable and alone. Just at that moment, the Gronkle's fire collided with Hiccup's shield gauntlet, and with luck not blasting it to pieces, but instead sending it and him rolling across the arena.

"One shot left," Gobber pointed out while Hiccup was groaning as he righted himself.

Hiccup had rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head, looking at his gauntlet with a smirk. The shield had not been damaged at all as he got back up, "Man… do I make a piece of equipment, or what?"

Groaning and cracking his neck, he slowly got back to his feet. However this wasn't the best of luck for him at this time. Now he only found himself cornered against the wall. And to make matters worse, the Gronkle was now advancing on him, with eyes only on him.

"Hiccup!" Gobber yelled out.

The Gronkle was just about to fire that shot that was sure to be Hiccup's doom. However, Hiccup snapped out of it at the last second, and slammed his shield into the wall, creating as much noise as possible. Once again, the Gronkle's vision was becoming disoriented; its vision of Hiccup became even more blurier due to the noise Hiccup made with his steel shield and the rock wall, the noise much closer to the dragon than before. When it least expected it, Gobber had run up in the nick of time, stuck his prosthetic hook hand, into the dragon's mouth, and was able to ensure to redirect the location of its fire.

"And that's six," Gobber said struggling with the dragon, "Go back to bed, you overgrown sausage!" He shot at it, as he secured it back into its cage. "You'll get another chance, don't you worry." He turned to his students, who were all out of breath, and as Unfer walked to them calmly. "Remember, a dragon will always," he turned to Hiccup, who was leaning on the wall, rubbing his right arm, "… _always_ go for the kill."

Hiccup just stood up and looked at the smoldering hole in the stone wall that the dragon had made.

However, his train of thought was gone, as soon as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw it was Unfer once again, as the adult Viking nodded in approval, "A most endeavor training to you today, Hiccup."

"But I didn't do much of anything," Hiccup defended.

"Nonsense," Unfer defended the lad, pulling away as he gestured to the other Vikings, "You had both caution and opportunity to wait for the right moment. Noise was the key element in disorienting the Gronkle. Bringing it in that close and creating that much noise only made it more confused." He then looked to the other teen Vikings as he scoffed, "While others fought amongst each other, ran away when they lost their shield, waiting to get shot at, or merely flirting with others." And then he turned right into Astrid's direction, "… or simply dodging and doing nothing."

Astrid simply growled as she shot out, "At least we were all out here, and not hiding with our skirts between our legs!"

"Yeah, you tell him, Astrid," Snotlout shouted out, while Ruffnut and Tuffnut were high-fiving each other on a burn well done.

The thin Viking simply scoffed as he added more insult to injury to the girl as he pointed out, mocking a woman's hand gesture, "Ohm, well at least I practice my curtsy." And then turned his back to them all as he made his way out.

After that little comment, Astrid was fuming as she shouted at him, pointing her ax forward in his direction, "Don't you dare turn your back to me!"

Unfer stopped in his tracks, but only for a moment as he slowly turned to face her, and reply, "Oh no, Miss Jofferson," and then proceeded to walk out as he stated, "Perhaps you and your friends shouldn't turn your backs on me."

Just then, Astrid ran forward to catch up to him, and immediately got in front, brandishing her ax almost up to his neck. Then, with an angered sneer, Astrid shouted at him in question, "Is that a challenge!?!"

"Of course not, dear Astrid Jofferson," Unfer calmly defended, gently pushing away the ax as he looked Astrid in the eye. "I would never dream of facing any of you."

"And pray tell, why's that?" Gobber asked, cocking an eyebrow at all this. "It's usually a Viking's job to beat up on the kids. makes'em tough."

"When do they do that?" Hiccup asked, starting to worry about this class.

Turning towards Hiccup, who was now standing straight up again, and retracted his shield, Unfer answered, "Well, when it comes to brains, Hiccup and I were infinitely blessed with it," and then turned to Astrid, as he sneered in disgust, "But when it comes to brute strength…" his sneer disappeared as he simply shrugged and walked past Astrid, her eyes never leaving the target as he finished, "… I'm afraid the two of us were unfortunate to have been denied that while in the gene pool." And just walked away, leaving the other teens to leave, with only Gobber and Hiccup left behind.

As Gobber was done cleaning up, he muttered, "Ah, there's one in every village," he grumbled, referring to Unfer as he and Hiccup prepared to leave, "Unfortunately for us, we ended up with someone like Unfer."

"What'd you think my dad's gonna do with him?" Hiccup asked, just making conversation with a concerned face.

Gobber was quiet for a moment as he scratched his chin with the hook. Finally, he turned to Hiccup with a smirk as he joked, "Well… he'd make a pretty good throw rug."

"Gobber," Hiccup scolded in a fun tone, as Gobber was about to go his separate way.

"Well, just think, Hiccup," Gobber stated before he left, "Every time he'd get dirty, you or your dad could drag him out and beat him." Gobber just chuckled to himself as he left, leaving Hiccup behind to go out the gate.

However, as he began to leave the arena, he was lost in thought. When he finally became aware of what he was doing, he decided he needed to go find the Night Fury again. So, when no one was looking, Hiccup disappeared into the forests of Berk once again.

* * *

**A Little While Later**

**Dragon Cages**

* * *

While everyone had left, Unfer had come right back, walking into the arena. He then walked towards one of the cage doors, and went in to one of the human sized doors. The scrawny and devious looking Viking strode into a darkened way, with only a torch in his left hand. But as he entered deep into it, dragons like the Gronkle, the Nightmare, or others were slowly encircling him at this point. However, he didn't seem all that afraid of them, not one bit as he stopped in the center, calmly looking at the dragons surrounding him.

Unfer looked around him at all sides, just glancing to see the dragons snarling at him, hissing at his presence. "So… we're all here, eh?" he asked, not even caring that the dragons hissed and began to advance on him, "Good."

Just as the dragons got closer to him, their nostrils fuming with smoke and their teeth drooling in growls, Unfer still showed no fear. Then, as a show of him not fearing them, he lightly tapped the horn on the Monstrous Nightmare's nose.

When he did this, he simply replied, "Now, if you pardon my saying so," and then simply shrugged as he held in his right hand, some sort of rope in a spiral shape. "Are you all…" he stated as he unfurled the rope, which was actually now a whip, with metal sharp blades, causing the dragons to flinch in fear as he shouted, whipping the blade around on the ground and in the air around him, like a land-stranded eel, "STARK RAVING, TOTALLY BLINKING IDIOTIC!?!?!"

The dragons all flinched back in complete fear at him, as Unfer finally stated, in his usual calm demeanor, "I practically gift-wrap the village's lamb and cattle supply for you to take," and then he pulled his hair back as he sighed, "And you can't even dispose of one gangly Viking teenager." he sighed as he put the whip away, and turned to exit the cages, but not before he shot all the dragons a sharp glare, "Remember: I want the scrawny one they call Hiccup… dead."

* * *

**Later On**

**In the Forest**

* * *

Hiccup continued to go down the path in the forest, seeking out the Night Fury. 'A dragon will always go for the kill.' Gobber's words repeated in Hiccup's head, as he walked closer and closer to where the creature had crashed. There, Hiccup stood only a few inches to where the cut up bola ropes lay on the ground in front of him.

"So why didn't you?" He asked himself out loud, kneeling down and holding up the ropes that had once trapped the captured dragon.

Hiccup walked a little further into the forest, in the direction that the Night Fury flew away last time. It wasn't a hard task, considering the broken branches and paw prints. It seemed evident that the Night Fury must have been hurt. Otherwise, the dragon wouldn't have crashed so many times. He followed the trail until it led him to where the tracks and broken branches ended at.

Hiccup now was at the end of the trail, or so he thought it was. He stepped between two large rocks, and behind them laid a small canyon. It was surrounded by tall rock walls, much like the ones in the training arena. It was full of lush, green plants, the sun was shining into it, and there were birds fluttering about inside it. Even in the canyon, was a small lake in it, either used for swimming or drinking in. in some aspect, it was like a small private paradise for anyone who wanted to get away… or to hide in.

Hiccup took a look into the canyon, a bit disappointed that he didn't find the dragon. "Well this was stupid," he muttered to himself. "It's probably long gone by…"

And just as he was about to leave, he looked down to his left and saw small black scales. He picked one up to get a better look at it. There was no mistaking anything about it; the scales that he held in his hand were identical to the Night Fury's scales. As he knelt down, a large, black figure swept by right in front of him. He jumped back a bit, but regained his footing as he looked to see what it was. It was the Night Fury, and it looked like it was trying to climb out of the canyon, but the rocks were too smooth for its claws to grab on to.

The dragon glided down and across the small lake that was centered in the canyon. It landed by a tree that was on the opposite end of the canyon from Hiccup. Summing up enough courage to do this, Hiccup jumped down to a rock ledge so he could get a better look at the dragon, as it tried once again to fly out again.

As the Night Fury attempted to escape the canyon, Hiccup decided not to waste an opportunity like this. Hiccup pulled out his pocket book from his side pouch, as he watched the dragon fail two more times to escape, flying around crookedly and always crashing flat on his belly. He drew the basic shape of the dragon: It was long with large wings, small fins right behind its wings, and two tail fins.

"I don't get it," Hiccup asked out-loud, "Why don't you just fly away?" It was only when he looked for a while at the dragon, did he take notice of it. He took a closer look at the dragon, and as he looked, he noticed that one of the tail fins was gone.

Hiccup looked at the picture he drew in his pocket book, and erased the left tail fin.

The Night Fury tried to fly out once more, only to crash by the lake. Just at that moment, a fish jumped out of the water, catching the Night Fury's attention. The dragon walked to the edge and peered in, anxiously looking for a meal. immediately, the dragon dove into the lake to catch one; the dragon's head came out of the water empty.

After watching the poor dragon come out empty handed, Hiccup felt bad for doing this to the dragon. He set down his charcoal pencil, but it rolled off the rock he was sitting on, landing in the canyon and giving away his cover.

The Night Fury looked up at Hiccup, its green eyes full of suspicion. Hiccup froze and stared back at the dragon, which cocked its head and made low grumbling noises. The two just stared at each other, forgetting that they were enemies, just trying to figure out one another. It was almost as if both Hiccup and the Night Fury were curious about one another; as if they were kindred spirits.

* * *

**Later that Day**

**Back in Berk**

**Berk Council Building**

* * *

When Hiccup got back to the village it was raining heavily. When he finally got to the Berk Council building, he was already soaked from head to toe, and his normally auburn hair looked dark brown. He went to the same large stone building as to where Stoick had held his meeting over finding the Dragon's Nest. When he had entered, he found the rest of the class were eating dinner there since everyone's parents were with the chief, looking for the said Nest. As he opened the door, Hiccup could hear the conversation inside.

"Alright, where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?" Gobber asked his students.

"I miss timed my somersault dive," Astrid said, "It was sloppy; it threw off my reverse tumble."

"Yeah, we noticed." commented Ruffnut.

"No no, you were great. That was so you, Astrid." Snotlout tried to defend Astrid, and yet, like always, failed miserably.

"She's right," said Gobber as Hiccup walked up to the table. He was attempting to sit down in a spot, until Snotlout took his spot, preventing him from even finding a place to sit down. "You have to be tough on yourselves." Sighing in defeat, Hiccup grabbed his plate of food and walked to a table where he would sit. Alone. "Now…" Gobber asked, pointing to Hiccup at this moment, "Where did Hiccup go wrong?"

Ruffnut was quick to answer. "Uh, he showed up."

Tuffnut chuckled as he fiddled and played with his dagger. "He didn't get eaten."

"He was born," Snotlout shot out.

"He dropped his ax," Syn pointed out, not sounding like she was poking fun at all at him.

"He's never where he should be." Astrid said venomously, looking at him with a scolding look in her eyes.

"Thank you, Astrid." Said Gobber. "You need to live and breathe this stuff. The Dragon Manuel," Gobber stated as he held up an old book, "Everything we know about every dragon we know of." He placed the book on the table where most of the class was sitting.

Thunder rolled through the sky and Gobber began to walk toward the two giant doors "No attacks tonight. Hurry up."

"Wait," Tuffnut asked in surprised shock, while dropping his knife, "… you mean, _read_?"

"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut added.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout said stupidly.

"Oh yeah, that made perfect sense," Syn replied sarcastically.

"Oh!" Said Fishlegs, excited, "I've read it like seven times. There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face. And… and there's this other one that buries itself for like a… "

Tuffnut cut him off, seemingly not interested at all, but more annoyed, "Yeah that sounds great. Now, there was a chance I was gonna read that…"

"… But, now?" Ruffnut finished.

Snotlout stood up, "You guys read… I'm gonna go workout, and go kill stuff." And with that, everyone, except Astrid, stood up and began to leave the room.

The two just sat there, not even speaking much of anything to each other. None of them barely even started to ring up a conversation at this time. Astrid barely even noticed Hiccup in the room at all, either that or she just didn't care to speak to him. But he decided now would probably be the best time to break the ice.

Hiccup got up and walked over to Astrid. "So-so I guess we'll share?" he pointed to the book as he let out an unconfident half-smirk.

"Read it," Astrid sharply and curtly replied, pushing the book towards him, and started walking towards the door.

"Uh, all mine then, wow," Hiccup replied, sounding a bit disappointed, but did his best to hide it, "So, uh, OK, I-I'll see you, uh…" The door slammed as Astrid left, "… tomorrow." Hiccup finished with a sigh, completely alone in the room. Unwanted, not needed, not even noticed by anyone.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Know Your Dragon; A Forbidden Bond**


	4. Know Your Dragon

**How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Know Your Dragon; A Forbidden Friendship**

* * *

**Late at Night**

**Berk Council Hall**

* * *

Later that night, Hiccup had found his way back to the council building. There, he opened the massive wooden doors and peered inside. And as to be expected, the room was dark and empty. Using a candle for the only source of light available to him, he walked towards the table where the book lay. He set his candle down and sat on the bench, opening the large book.

"Dragon Classifications:" Hiccup read to himself out loud as he looked at the table of contents of the book, "Strike class, Fear class, Mystery class, Rare/Extinct class."

He turned to the first page, which bared a picture of a very monstrous looking dragon. The dragon looked like a jet engine with a tail and two wings on its limbless body.

"The ThunderDrum," He read to himself silently, as he began to read the description of the named dragon, "This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide-pools. When startled, the Thunder Drum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight." Hiccup cocked an eyebrow and a pondering frown, as he realized that he had never seen this dragon before. But after reading how it killed its opponents/victims, he didn't plan on meeting it anytime soon.

Hiccup then turned the page to reveal another dragon. "The TimberJack," the illustration showed a picture of a dragon with a long neck, beak, non-existent limbs, but it did have a pair of extremely large wings… that looked razor sharp blades. "This gigantic creature has razor sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight."

Hiccup turned the page again, seeing a dragon with a head resembling that of a turtle's. It was spewing water out at attacking Vikings, and they were either burned or melted. "Scaldron-" This was the dragon Fishlegs had been talking about. "Sprays scalding water at it's victims. Extremely dangerous… " Hiccup was cut off by a loud boom of thunder, which startled him. He turned and only saw the door slightly open, showing lighting and rain were still going on outside. Once he realized that nothing was there, he turned back to the book and began to read again.

"Change Wing-" he read to himself, as he turned the page again, "Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight."

As he flipped through the pages he saw the more common dragons: Napper, Terrible Terror, Volcanoback, Gronkle, ZippleBack, Monstrous Nightmare, Bone-Napper. There were so many dragons, and all had nasty ways of killing it's prey. And they all said the exact same thing: Extremely vicious, Kill on Sight.

Hiccup continued to read them out loud, "Burns it's victims, parries it's victims, chokes it's victims, turns it's victims inside-out." Hiccup continued to flip through the many pages. Under most dragons was written 'Extremely dangerous' and under every single dragon 'Kill on sight.' was written in large, bold letters.

He stopped once he reached the practically blank page that was titled Night Fury, and he began to read what little information there was about it.

"The Night Fury," Hiccup read to himself as he read out what was known about it, "Speed: Unknown. Size: Unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance: Hide and pray it does not find you."

"Which is what most Vikings should do, souhd they ever come across the Night Fury."

Hiccup nearly jumped out of his seat as he turned around, and saw Unfer, standing there iwht a candle in his hand. Nearly having the wind knocked out of him, Hiccup gasped, "Unfer! Wh-what are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same question," he defended as he walked over, and noticed the book of Dragons. He then nodded, "Ah, I see. Late-night studying, it seems."

"Yeah, pretty much," Hiccup stated, finally calming down and sitting back down. "I've been trying to find out some information on the Night Fury. But so far," he stated as he took a deep sigh of disappointment as he leaned on his left arm, and tapped the book with his right hand, "Nothing as much. All it says is to run and hide. And mostly every other dragon is Extremely Dangerous or Kill on Sight. It doesn't even mention any weak spots."

"Well, most wouldn't be able to," Unfer stated as he now stood next to Hiccup and leaned in on the book, "Most must learn from experience of a dragon's weak point." he then turned the pages of the book, to an illustration much older than the book itself, "Take this dragon for example."

Hiccup's attention was now turned to the illustration of what appeared to be an old-fashioned Western Dragon colored in a magnificent scaly coat of sun yellow scales. The dragon couldn't have been more than twenty-five feet on the height level of the picture, and its wingspan was probably 35 or 50 feet long. It had an elongated neck, as did most dragons, and a crown of horns adorning its head as well as its cheeks. It yellow catlike eyes, much like the Night Fury that he saw, but no nose horn either. Its hind legs were powerful looking, as was its forearms, and both limbs had four clawed appendages that the bone structure was resemblance to a human's. on its back and neck, as well as forearms, thighs, and tail, as well as its helmet styled head, brown armored plating scales were there. It had a noble and honorable aura around it, even if it was a drawing. On top of the illustration, it read only one name…

"The Golden Fleece," Hiccup began as he read the description, "Known to be one of the most powerful of the dragons, and the most combat experienced dragon ever. So named for the armor plating on its body; incapable of being penetrated, as well as its habit of flying in front of the sun, hiding in it to blind its enemies. This beast can spew out flames from both its mouth and throat, when come into contact, can cause explosive blasts from the flames. Its tail is also a defensive weapon, in changing into an ax/mace of sorts. Extremely dangerous, either kill or run away. One thing must be known: Fight at your own risk if facing against this dragon."

"Well, that's the part they tell you," Unfer explained as he pulled out his dagger, and used it to point to what appeared to be a red spot, shaped like a diamond, at the throat of the illustrated dragon, "What they won't tell you, is that there's an exposed vulnerable piece of flesh under the throat. That's where its heart is located and unprotected," he explained as he put the blade under Hiccup's throat, nearly making the boy flinch in fear, "You have to go in with a dagger or sword, either stabbing the heart or pulling it out. It's the only way to kill the Golden Fleece."

"Uh, yeah," Hiccup gulped as he tried to pull away from the dagger's bladed side, "That's um… that's, that's very informative."

"Isn't it?" Unfer chuckled as he pulled the blade away, with Hiccup rubbing his throat. Re-sheathing the blade, Unfer made his way into the shadows, but not before he let one bit of advice to Hiccup, "Goodnight, Hiccup. Watch out for Night Furies," and disappeared into the shadows with only his light showing as he finished, "I'm sure, even at night, your imagination is teeming with them."

As soon as he was gone, Hiccup sighed in relief as he muttered, "Boy, that guy's scary beyond all reason."

Hiccup pulled out his pocket book from the pocket inside his vest, and opened it to the page where the picture of the Night Fury was. Surely from what he saw in the canyon, this dragon couldn't be as bad as the manual said it was. Sure the species had destroyed hundreds of Viking houses, but with one flaw as simple as a faulty tail fin, this dragon was nothing harmful like he was.

Good as dead.

And plus, once it was freed from the ropes, it hadn't killed Hiccup when it had the chance.

Hiccup decided he better get to bed, he had another day of training in the morning. He put his pocket book away and closed the Dragon Manual. Grabbing his almost burnt out candle, he left the dark stone room and headed through the still raging storm to his house.

Though as he left to go home, he thought of his father, Stoick, and the deal they had made again. Well, the deal his father made in their one-voiced deal. He had been dwelling on it ever since he 'agreed' to it. He didn't want to disappoint his father, but he didn't want to kill any dragons, not after when he freed the Night Fury.

And even more so, he also wanted to learn more about the Night Fury in the canyon. It was only in his nature to want to know more. He may not have been strong like his father was, but he made up for it with his intelligence and curiosity. He decided that during training tomorrow, he would ask Gobber for more information on Night Furies, seeing as the manual didn't help him much.

* * *

**Elsewhere**

**Out at Sea**

* * *

The mighty fleet of Vikings ships continued to sail along the oceans, reaching the border of a fogged up section of the ocean. Stoick was fervently glaring at the map, obsessed with finding the nest. "It's out there," he told himself as he looked out to their next search target, "I can practically smell the dragons' brimstone."

The fog was so thick, you could barely able to see the ocean floor in it, let alone the skies that it blanketed. It was known to those of the Hairy Hooligan Vikings of Berk, as well as other tribes all over the European area, as the Gates of Helhydan, as some religious explorers had known to call it. And this was perhaps to where Stoick hoped to find the nest.

"Take us in," he ordered the others.

The ships then made their turns into the fogged up abyss, nearly disappearing as the last ship sunk right into it. It was quiet for only fifteen minutes… until the roar of a Monstrous Nightmare could be heard, and seen within the darkened thick fog were flames being spewed in all directions.

* * *

**The Next Day**

**Back in Berk**

**Dragon Training Coliseum**

* * *

Hiccup had woken up early enough, so that he could get ready and make it to the training arena in time for Gobber's next training lesson. Yesterday, Gobber had said they would be working with a Deadly Nadder today. Now from what every Viking, adult and teenager, had heard, Nadders were considered one of the less dangerous dragons, but they still seemed pretty deadly, even to Hiccup.

From what he read from the book last night, Nadders were normally a bright shade of blue, with pale yellow stripes, but they could range in different colors; from dark blue to even purple with orange stripes. They had large heads equipped with a large crown of spikes on the back, and one spike on the nose. In truth, their heads were shaped to be similar to a parrot, or some sort of bird predator. They had fairly big wings, in which some were considered to be tiny, and no arms, and their tails were covered with sharp quills that flexed in and out like a porcupine's, and that could be shot at their victims like darts.

He walked across the wooden suspension bridge, and at the other end of it was the arena. When Hiccup got close enough to see the ring, and ran on in, he stopped as he noticed a bunch of wooden barriers were set up inside. The walls had made maze like hallways and barriers. What Gobber had planned in this kind of training, only Gobber knew and wasn't telling.

As usual, the other Viking teenagers, including Astrid, were waiting for him when he got there. They all looked very displeased that they had to wait for him. Hiccup grabbed an ax and fixed his arm gauntlet to Shield Mode, and stepped inside. The other teens just did their best to ignore them

"Alright," said Gobber as he suddenly appeared from behind one of the barriers. Well, in truth, he was outside the coliseum, looking down at the teenagers, leaning down on one of the railings as his prosthetic hammer hand was swinging on the side. "I'll be lettin' the dragon out. Take yer places," he left the ring, and shut the doors behind him.

Hiccup backed up against one of the wooden walls, as he heard the door to the Nadder's cage open. He looked up and saw Gobber, watching donw on them. Hiccup decided that he'd ask him about the Night Fury now, of all times.

Unfortunately… this wasn't the best time for questions.

"Hey," he yelled at him, getting the veteran's attention, "I just happen to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies. Is there like, another book, or a sequel, maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet?" Hiccup asked, not noticing the large ball of fire that was hurling towards him, destined to hit his ax which he was holding up at his side.

"Focus, Hiccup! You're not even tryin'," Gobber yelled, as Hiccup's ax was melted right off it's handle. Now the only weapon Hiccup was holding a metal stick that was glowing red on the end of it from the intense heat.

"Whoa!" He yelled in surprise as he ran through the maze. "I really hope the shield can hold up on this kind of heat," he silently prayed to himself as he made a turn down one of the corridors.

"Today," Gobber stated calmly as he began his lecture, "… is all about ATTACK! Nadders are quick and light on their feet. You're job is to be quicker and lighter!"

Jumping up and perched itself on the wall, was the dragon for the day. It was probably around eleven feet in height, sixteen in length, with the skeletal structure of an eagle. It was bipedal and its arms were twelve foot wings. However, its was colored a bright blue, with a light yellow/white underbelly, and its wings were a combination of yellow, orange and green. Its head was somewhat in bird-designed, with its one horned nose ending at a beak hook, and on the back of its head was a crown of spikes that flexed like a parrot's feathered head. Its long blue and yellow striped tail was coated with a series of venomous spikes that could flex out like the mane, but inject venom. This was the Deadly Nadder, the most beautiful of all the dragons, and one of the fastest, as well as having the hottest fire breath out of all the known dragons.

The Nadder was now perched on the wooden walls, jumping easily from one wall to the next. It lifted its spiked tail in the air and launched a battery of quills into Fishlegs' shield.

"I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" He yelled out in a running storm, as he ran blindingly through the maze.

"Look for it's blind spot," Gobber said, looking bored as his students ran for their lives. "Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and then strike."

Hiccup ran through one of the passageways, going past the twins as he did so. Ruffnut and Tuffnut ran around a corner, just to find themselves standing face to face with the Deadly Nadder. Ruffnut was standing right behind Tuffnut, who was trying to get out of the dragon's face. It seemed to work, as with the twins standing six inches from its beaked maw. They had unintentionally found the blind spot, and were completely unseen, until Ruffnut took one whiff, and her face contorted with disgust.

"Yuck, do you ever bathe?" she asked Tuffnut.

"Marinate in it, Babe," Tuffnut said, pushing his sister back. "If you don't like it then get your own blind spot."

"How about I give you one!" Ruffnut threatened, as she pushed back.

Tuffnut didn't have time to respond, because right after she said it, the Nadder expelled a great deal of piping hot fire. Tuffnut and Ruffnut got out of the way before they became dragon food.

"Blind spot yes. Death spot not so much," Gobber commented.

Astrid, Snotlout, Syn, and Hiccup ran through the maze. While Hiccup was running, he spotted Gobber at the top and decided he'd try and get more information out of him.

"Hey," he said to Gobber, as he stopped running for only a moment, "So how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?" He tried.

"No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale." Gobber replied calmly, until he yelled out, extremely annoyed, "Now… GET IN THERE!"

"I know, I know. But, hypothetically…" Hiccup said, as he backed up. However, he turned around, and saw Astrid, Syn, and Snotlout hiding behind their shields. Astrid was making a gesture that obviously meant, '_Get down!'_ Her scowling glare at him was obvious of that assumption.

Hiccup got down and hid behind them. Astrid peered around the corner of one of the barriers, and saw the Nadder sniffing at the ground. The very scene filled the young teen girl Viking with an adrenaline rush to help her in this test. She skillfully and quietly rolled passed the dragon to the other side of the hallway, Snotlout followed, as did Syn. However, Syn stopped for a moment, looking back at the hesitant Hiccup.

She beckened him to come along. "C'mon, Hiccup. Move it," she whispered to him.

When Hiccup tried to copy the three, as he took Syn's advice to move, he failed tremendously. His roll was perfect, except for one minor flaw at the finish. He didn't complete the roll, and came to a stop right in front of the Nadder, catching its attention. He quickly stood up and scurried away, just before the Nadder could take a bite out of him.

The dragon jumped up on the walls again and roared in frustration. It found both Astrid and Snotlout, and jumped down in front of them.

"Watch out Babe, I'll take care of this," Snotlout said, holding up his hammer, in another attempt to impress Astrid. He threw it right at the Nadder, but missed it completely as it went passed its left side, and slammed into one of the walls. Astrid shook her head as she looked at him, unimpressed.

"The sun was in my eyes, Astrid!" Snotlout stated, trying his best to make excuses.

The dragon blew a mighty stream of fire at them, as they ran down another passageway. As it did so, the teens continued to dodge the flames as Snotlout did his best to impress Astrid. However, that didn't do so well, even for his best material. "What do you want me to do, block out the sun? I can't do that, I.."

Snotlout ran down a different hallway than Astrid, and the Nadder followed her. The Dragon flew wildly at her. It's angry roars filled the arena. It knocked over anything in it's way. Despite the order that Unfer had given all the dragons yesterday after practice, when no one was around, the Nadder had other ideas on its mind. All it wanted now, was to get Astrid.

This was made evident as Syn popped up, as Astrid ran past her. The girl opened her arms out and shouted, trying to get the Nadder's attention, "Hey, I'm right here! Check it out: Fresh Meat!" but the Nadder just ran past her, leaving the female teen Viking in the dust, as she huffed, "Not again."

Hiccup was still trying to get some information out of Gobber, "Has anyone seen one napping?" but to no use.

Just at that moment, he turned around when he heard Astrid yelling. And adding much surprise to Hiccup, the Nadder was right on her heals.

Astrid was on top of one of the falling walls and jumped, landing right on Hiccup, who was knocked to the ground. As the dust cleared a bit, both the twins and Syn looked at the now somewhat awkward scene. When Astrid had fallen on Hiccup, she had indeed fallen on him. She was on top of him, while he was pinned down by her as she got up. Astrid's ax had gotten wedged in Hiccup's arm gauntlet shield, which was strapped on to Hiccup's arm.

To this scene, the trio decided to poke fun at this as Syn shot out with a smirk, "Awww, I didn't know you were interested in his type, Astrid. Snotlout's gonna be pretty heartbroken about this."

"Ooo, love on the battle-field," Tuffnut teased.

"She could do better," Ruffnut chimed in.

Feeling rather embarrassed, but more angry at this, Astrid tried to pull away. But to no avail as she shot out, "Let me…"

"Why don't you?" Hiccup added in.

He tried to figure out a way to get unstuck, but Astrid just stood up. As the two still continued to struggle free, the Nadder was charging right for them both. Astrid saw this, and bracing herself on Hiccup's face with her boot, she pulled on her ax, taking Hiccup's shield with it as it was ripped off the glove. The Nadder was coming around, straight for Astrid. But she held up the ax and hit it in the face with it, using the side of the weapon. The shield made contact with the Nadder's face; the shield shattering to pieces as the dragon staggered back a bit. The Nadder let out a yelp and hobbled off.

"Well done, Astrid," Gobber called out as he walked back on the training ground, escorting the Nadder back into its cage.

Astrid caught her breath and turned around to face Hiccup, who was getting back up on his feet. He rubbed his face in slight pain for being stepped on like that. He stood straight up as Astrid shoved him forcefully, venomously lecturing him. "Is this some kind of a joke to you?" "

"What? No!" Hiccup shook his head in defense as he tried his best, "I was just tyring to…"

"To what? Screw everything up? Like you always do?" she jabbed her finger into his shoulder, pushing him back with all three questions, "Our parents' war is about to become ours," she leaned towards him and put her ax in his face. "You had better figure out which side you're on." She turned around and walked away, her friends following her.

As they were leaving, Syn merely looked to him and shrugged, "I'm pretty sure she likes you. She just doesn't know how to…"

"Get moving, Syn," Astrid shouted, causing the other girl to run after them.

Hiccup got to his feet and looked around, seeing the main component of his arm gauntlet scattered to where Astrid had struck the Nadder. Gobber had already gotten the Nadder back in its cage, and was looking at Hiccup with disappointment covering his face. Gobber began cleaning up the carnage left in the training ring.

"Would you like me to…" Hiccup attempted to help clean up but Gobber cut him off.

"Get goin'. I got this," he said as he turned around, and started picking up scraps of wood. Hiccup sighed as he was about to leave, but stopped as Gobber stated, "Ah… sorry about your shield there, lad."

"Ah, no. it's alright," Hiccup defended as he began to leave the arena, "I, uh… I made spare parts for the glove. In case something like this happened."

Hiccup left the ring, and immediately decided what he was going to do. He immediately made it to his house, in which there was a spare metal piece to replace the one that Astrid destroyed. Fixing his glove, which looked like nothing had happened to it, he also took a fish he found in his house. He made sure no one was looking, and quietly and unnoticing made his way into the forest.

* * *

**Deep in the Forest**

* * *

When he got to the canyon that the Night Fury had trapped itself in, he found a lower entrance so he wouldn't have to climb in. He hid between two rocks just at the entrance and threw the fish inside, but nothing happened. He meant to walk inside, but the shield he had folded out from the gauntlet got jammed between the two rocks. Hiccup decided to retract the shield back into its default form, crawled through the rocks, and grabbed the fish again.

He walked around the area, but there was no sight of the dragon anywhere. Unaware of it, not one bit as he walked in there, the dragon was not far from him. Hiding behind the rocks behind Hiccup, the Night Fury was crouching on it, looking at the Viking teenager. The Night Fury crawled out from the rocks, causing Hiccup to turn around immediately and gasped. The dragon walked around him as it walked in a crouched position, carefully observing the Viking in case he tried to attack it again.

Deciding to try and make peace with it, he held out the fish in hopes that the dragon would take it nicely. The Night Fury immediately spotted the fish, and seemed to relax a bit. This was made evident as the slit eyes then dilated into bit round irises, almost as if the dragon was some sort of kitten/puppy. Hiccup couldn't help but chuckle at this; the fear leaving him completely.

The creature inched forward and opened it's mouth, exposing healthy pink gums, not being noticed by Hiccup at all. As soon as it got close, realization came to its eyes and it backed off.

Hiccup immediately knew that it knew he had a weapon. "What? No, oh man. You've got it all wrong," he defended as he used the hand that still held the fish, and pointed at the gauntlet. "No! You don't have to worry," he stated as he slammed his palm on the sphere of the glove. Immediately, the metal isosceles diamond piece popped off as Hiccup kicked it behind him, "See? No harm done to you; no weapons."

However, the Night Fury was still hissing, as Hiccup realized that he had one more weapon. He reached into his vest and pulled out his knife, his only other weapon that he never used. The dragon growled at him, but he dropped it on the ground. The Night Fury motioned it's head towards the water, as if it… or he… was trying to tell Hiccup to kick the knife away.

Hiccup lifted the knife up with his foot, and tossed it into the water. As soon as the dragon heard the knife hit the lake it sat down, and it's haunches and looked at Hiccup with big, expecting eyes; it's ear twitching. Once again, this made Hiccup smile at this scene, thinking the Night Fury, the one Dragon that everyone thought was the devil, was some kind of innocent little kitten/puppy.

Hiccup held out the fish again and the dragon inched closer. When it got close enough it opened it mouth again. Hiccup now noticed the pink gums, not a tooth in sight.

"Huh, toothless," he said holding out the fish, "I could of swore you had…" Just as he set it, rows of teeth suddenly appeared in the dragons mouth. The not so toothless dragon snatched the fish out of Hiccups hands, bit it in two, and swallowed it. "Teeth." Hiccup finished as the dragon licked its lips with its thick forked tongue.

'They're retractable just like a cat's claws,' Hiccup thought as he looked at the dragon, 'That must be for when it shoots out a fire shot. To make sure it doesn't blow out its own teeth.' he then said aloud with a half smirk, "Hmm, that's useful."

The dragon looked at Hiccup and walked towards him, making low rumbling noises deep in it's throat. Hiccup backed up until he stumble into a large rock and sat down in front of it.

"No, no. No," Hiccup pleaded nervously, as the dragon got right in his face. "I don't have anymore," he told it.

The dragons eyes rolled back and it started to convulse. It opened it's mouth, and out came half of the fish Hiccup gave it. The fish landed on his lap, as he nearly gagged, "Ugh…"

And then the dragon sat down, human position-wise, and looked at Hiccup. Hiccup sat there uncomfortably while the dragon stared at him. He looked straight at the dragon, and the dragon just looked at him.

Hiccup cocked an eyebrow as he finally asked, "What?" and then the dragon gestured to him then the fish. Realizing what the dragon wanted Hiccup groaned, "Wait! You want me… to… ?" the Dragon merely looked at him, silently giving Hiccup the answer, as the boy sighed in disgust, "Ugh, great."

He slowly brought the fish up towards his mouth and bit into it. And immediately, it tasted absolutely disgusting.

"Mmm," Hiccup mumbled, trying to show the dragon that he ate the fish. But it was pretty obvious that it was smarter than he thought. The dragon made a loud gulping noise, telling him to swallow it.

Hiccup just groaned, humming out, 'You've gotta be kidding me.' With all his might, mostly from his stomach, he tried to force down the disgusting, once already-eaten-but-thrown-up fish. It took a few tries, one try to ensure he wouldn't puke it out, but he succeeded, as he gulped down the fish and shivered from the bad taste now swimming around in his mouth.

The Night Fury licked its lips again, and Hiccup looked at it and smiled a very, very, goofy smile. The dragon looked at him and squinted its eyes, studying the boy's facial features now. Then in a few seconds of silence, the sides of its mouth came up in a weird sort of toothless smile, since it had retracted its teeth again.

"Toothless" Hiccup thought aloud as the dragon heard him, "That's what I'll call you. Toothless."

He looked at the dragon's silly attempt at a smile, stifling a laugh or two of his own. Without thinking, he got back on to his feet, and reached out his right hand to touch the dragon. But before he could even touch him, it bared its teeth and glided to the other end of the canyon and landed roughly.

It lit the ground it stood atop of on fire, and laid down in the warm flames. He folded his wings in the back, but they were left open still and spread out on both sides, and had his tail curled nearly up to his stomach as he relaxed in his spot. Toothless looked up to see a bird taking off from it's perch on a branch and fly away, his ears standing straight up. When his gaze followed the bird his eyes fell on Hiccup, who had moved from the other end of the canyon and was now sitting Indian style on the ground beside Toothless.

"Hi," Hiccup said casually to the dragon, as if it was just common for the boy and dragon to act all buddy, buddy.

The dragon put his ears back against his head, and groaned. Though it wasn't an angered groan or a groan of anger or hatred, just more of annoyed. Toothless then shifted his body so that when he laid down, he could hide his face with his remaining tail-fin.

Hiccup sighed at this, knowing it wasn't gonna be easy to get on this dragon's good side. He then scooted closer to the dragon and reached out his hand, trying to touch him again. But right before he could place his hand on the dragon's tail, Toothless folded his tail fin down and out of the way, just in time to see Hiccup.

Not wanting the dragon to notice what he was trying to do, which it obviously did, Hiccup shot up, rotated 180 degrees around on his heel, and comically walked away. Toothless walked over to a large tree, then jumped up on one of the stronger branches, and perched itself on a branch. Amazingly, he was able to do this by hanging upside down by his tail, and hiding within his wings, like a bat.

* * *

**Evening**

* * *

When the sun was lowering in the sky, Toothless unfurled his wings and looked around the canyon. For a moment, he didn't expect the human Viking teen to still be around. But he was proven himself wrong as he took a gander at the lake. He saw Hiccup sitting on a small rock not facing him. The dragon was a bit amazed at this persistence; he had stayed the entire day, and didn't even run. Why did he do that? Why did he just stay and not try to touch him again? This human was a complete puzzle to the Night Fury indeed. He noticed the human was doing something over there, and curiosity brought Toothless to go investigate.

Hiccup was bored, and boy was he. He was mindlessly drawing in a dirt with a stick, when he noticed the large black beast watching him from behind. Deciding not to turn around, in fear that the dragon would just try to shoo him or just get away, Hiccup decided to continue with his drawing, almost acting like he didn't notice Toothless behind him at all. With a few motions of the stick the lines in the dirt began to take the shape of a dragon, and then it became the shape of Toothless.

The dragon watched intently with large eyes, as Hiccup drew him into the dirt. While he watched, soft purring noises came from his throat, and being the intelligent dragon that he was, Toothless got an idea. He stood up on his hind legs, and waddled back to where he was sleeping.

Hiccup looked back in confusing as he saw Toothless grab a large tree branch in his mouth, and drag it over to where he had been sitting. Toothless held the branch in his mouth, and pressed it against the ground and began to twirl around the rock Hiccup was seated on. He stopped a few times to look at Hiccup and make sure his drawing was correct, and then he continued to spin around and around has he copied Hiccup's ways.

Once he was satisfied with his picture, Toothless put the branch down a sat on the ground. Hiccup was in the middle of the drawing and he stood up to get a better view of the swirls in the dirt. After careful observation, Hiccup was astound as to what he figured what the swirls and scribbles were. It was an attempted drawing of himself; the dragon attempted to draw him, just as he drew Toothless.

He went to walk out of the drawing when he stepped on one of the lines. Toothless let out a furious growl, baring his teeth. Hiccup took his foot off the line and Toothless' expression became one of curiosity and wonder, and he began to purr softly. The previous anger immediately forgotten.

After seeing this, Hiccup decided to experiment on the subject, and put his foot back on the line. Sure enough, the dragon's expression became vicious again, and when he took it off Toothless began to purr again. Hiccup tried this a few more times but stopped before Toothless got too mad. The last thing he wanted was to get eaten just for stepping on a picture.

Hiccup smiled at the dragon and began to weave through the lines, placing his feet in the right places like a graceful dance. He twirled and swirled through the lines until he felt breathing down his neck. He turned around and looked up to see Toothless gazing at him, without any ferocity in his eyes.

Hiccup slowly lifted up his hand, and Toothless let out a growl, slightly showing his teeth, but this time he didn't back up or run away. Hiccup put his head down and closed his eyes, slowly putting up his hand again. It stopped a few inches before the dragon's nose.

Toothless' eyes open wide as he looked at the boys hand, and slowly, very slowly, he closed his eyes…

… and placed his head lightly in Hiccup's hand purring softly.

Hiccup lifted his head and looked at the dragon in disbelief. When Toothless opened his eyes and saw Hiccup staring at him he shook his head, pupils contracting, and he took off back to where he was sleeping. Hiccup just stood there for a minute to grasp on to what had just happened.

He decided that since he made so much progress with Toothless, and that it was getting late that he better start walking back to the village. He felt ecstatic as he walked; Toothless had actually let him touch him and the feeling of that was amazing. Hiccup couldn't wait for the next time when he'd get to see him again.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Hiccup's Dragon Mentor; An Impasse Between Human and Dragon**

* * *

**And for your reading pleasure, here's a bio for one of the characters I've brought in.**

Name: Unfer Goldeff

Viking Name: Unfer the Unbearable

Age: 48

Height: 5'7"

Weight: 190 lbs.

Likes: Power, Revenge, imagining Stoick getting beaten up by someone, or a dragon finally doing him in

Dislikes: Stoick the Vast, Vikings like Stoick the Vast, Anyone or anything that talks, idolizes, or even resembles Stoick the Vast, and finally… Hiccup

Family: Unknown

Background: Not much is known about the scheming Unfer, only that he holds a strong position of the Council of Berk. Although he's a member, he has ever since longed the position of chief of the village. However, Unfer lacks the insane strength that the other Vikings possess, much like Hiccup at first, for the rule of Berk is that Strength is the Key to Victory, to some. For this, Unfer has remained bitter at Stoick in particular, considering he's the strongest Viking there is.

Unfer eventually became jealous of Stoick's son, Hiccup, because of his future position as the next chief of Berk. Always sneaking off and coming back is his usual schedule, in which no one bothers to even try to find him.

But there may be a darker history to this character. More than Stoick or Hiccup will ever know. However, Toothless, Draco, and all the other dragons appear to have a feared experience with this Viking swordsman. The only question is: what is it?

Appearance: Unfer is elegant and poised, but his short black hair is unkempt and wild looking. He is perhaps the most noticeable skinny Viking of Berk; lithe and melanistic in appearance. Unfer also sports a black goatee beard with two braids sticking at the end, characteristic of villains, particularly the evil twin archetype which is fitting given his relationship with Stoick. And finally, Unfer has a thin, white gash over his right eye, which goes unnoticed and has no history as to how he received it. Some say it was in a sword/ax duel with Stoick, or it possibly could have been a dragon.

Personality: Vain, power-hungry, cruel, ruthless, evil, scheming, Cunning, Persuasive, Brute, Impatient

Concept: Unfer was inspired by most devious and scheming villains. Most notably Scar from Lion King, voiced by the equally evil-sounding Jeremy Irons. However, the true inspiration was heavily modeled after Unferth, voiced by John Malkovich, from the movie, Beowulf from 2007 (the best Beowulf film ever). In truth, he's a somewhat Anti-Hiccup; a vision of the future, if Hiccup ever turned bad, so to speak.


	5. Hiccup's Dragon Mentor

**How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 5:Hiccup's Dragon Mentor; An Impasse Between Human and Dragon**

* * *

**Later at Dusk**

**Berk Coast Watchtower**

* * *

Hiccup had returned to Berk village afterwards, feeling a bit more chipper due to the connection he and his new friend, Toothless, had found. But that would just have to remain as a secret; if anyone else found about their friendship, bit trouble would be in store for the two. But for now, he was gonna enjoy the night for now. Well, at least try to enjoy it. Tonight, Gobber had invited the young Viking dragon slayer trainees for a dusk bonfire feast, in honor of a successful training week. The Success: there were no casualties, including Hiccup. However, the rough part for Hiccup, as he waited for his fish to cook, was having to listen to one of Gobber's old dragon hunting stories.

"… Took my hand, and swallowed it whole," Gobber told his students, while roasting a chicken on the open bon fire with his makeshift shiscabob hand. "And I could read what he said by the look on his face: I was delicious. Well, he must've passed the word, for it wasn't until a month later, when another came by," then he pointed to his peg leg as he finished, "… and took my leg."

The students, minus Hiccup and surprisingly Astrid, were all in awe at the veteran Viking's tale.

"Isn't it weird? I mean to think that your hand was inside a dragon," Fishlegs began as he stated, motioning his drumsticks, "Like if your mind was still in control of it, then you could've killed that dragon just by crushing its heart, or something."

The teens looked at their RPG lingo-slanging comrade with dumbfounded gazes. The only ones who didn't look at him as such, was Hiccup, who was picking at his fish. He was still lost in thought, thinking about Toothless, and to figure out his dysfunctional flying problems.

"I swear, I'm so angry right now," snarled Snotlout as he glared at his still cooking chicken. He then looked to Gobber as he swore, "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and foot! I'll rip the legs of every dragon I slay… with my own face!!!"

Gobber chuckled as he tore the wings off his chicken, and made an excellent piece of advice to all the Vikings, "Na-Ah, Snotlout. It's the wings and the tail fins you need to rip off. Without them, they either can't fly or they can't steer while in flight." when Gobber said that, Hiccup immediately perked up, absorbing that information, as the Viking finished, "Remember: a Downed Dragon… is a Dead Dragon."

Hiccup took that in very deeply, and felt even more responsible for when he shot down Toothless. Now he knew why the Night Fury couldn't get out of the canyon. The bolas that he shot must've somehow shredded the left tail fin, and in the process, caused an imbalance in Toothless's flying capabilities. Now… now, he had to think of a way to restore it back to him.

"Hey, Hiccup," Syn called out, getting the blacksmith apprentice's attention, "Hey, you alive on us?"

"Huh?" he asked, getting out of his rut as he answered, "Yeah, uh… well, I…" Not wanting to talk about it, he had just gotten an idea. He turned to Gobber and popped out, "Hey, Gobber. Why don't you tell us about the time you and Dad swam the Serpent's Pass."

"Oh, that's a good story," Gobber stated out as he turned to the students, "That's when Stoick and I had fought about eleven Sea Dragons that tried to gobble us up after a five-day swimming contest." But he stopped as he scratched his chin, "Or was it nine Sea Dragons?"

Syn leaned close to Fishlegs as she whispered, "Last time I heard this story, he said there were five." She then turned towards Hiccup's direction as she asked, "Isn't that right?" But then, she noticed that Hiccup was gone, and looked around, "Where'd he go?"

"Man, I'm hopin' to fight the Nightmare in the ring," Tuffnut replied, leaning back to relax. "It's my destiny to fight one. See?" he then lifted his arm, showing an unknown mark to Fishlegs.

"Whoa," the large teen Viking was struck in awe, "When'd you get a tattoo?"

"It's a birthmark," Tuffnut monotonely commented.

"I've known you for sixteen years," Ruffnut replied, not believing one word of it, "I've been stuck with you since birth, and I've never seen that."

As the twins were continuing their argument, Astrid heard creaking footsteps from the watch post's stairwell. She got up, and walked to it to see who was walking up, or down. Hiccup's retreating form was seen making his way down the stairs, as the female Viking looked at his disappearing form in confusion and suspicion. Her eyes squinted in silent thought about it, but shrugged as she told herself, "Why do I care what that weakling coward does?" she then turned back to the fire as she huffed, "It's not like he's got anything special to do."

* * *

**Lat that Night**

**Gobber's Blacksmith House**

* * *

The light was on in the blacksmith shop, as Hiccup began to get to work now. He brought out his note/sketchbook, as well as a few well done doodles of Toothless. He immediately opened up the book to the page, detailing a diagram picture of the Night Fury, Toothless. He took his pencil and studied the tail fins very carefully, and then began to sketch a design on a bigger sheet of paper. After he was done sketching and looked over the blueprints, he nodded to himself and began to get to work.

Hiccup started the coals and the furnace, heating the fires as he began the next step. He heated up a slab of metal, and when it was soft enough, he brought it over to beat it into the desired shape he had in mind. He dunked the shape in the water and proceeded to the next one. He then began to take apart a few Viking shields that weren't salvageable, and proceeded to melt, mold, and cool down more components… until finally, the object was completed.

It was an exact replica prosthetic of a tail fin for a Night Fury. Hiccup folded the artificial fin and out, making sure that he had been very detailed on this little piece of equipment. Five steel bone spikes attached to a brown piece of cloth, and onto a strap on cloth with two strap bands on it. In truth, it looked very much identical to a part of Toothless's tail.

Hiccup smirked at this accomplishment as he folded it back, and looked at the prints, "He's gonna love this."

He looked around the room, and noticed the old smashed up Bola Cannon. He then looked to the sketches of Toothless as he thought for a moment, and then lit up.

* * *

**Next Morning**

**Back in the Night Fury's Hideout**

* * *

"Toothless," Hiccup called out to his Night Fury friend, as he strode on in, happy as a clown.

He looked around, hoping to find the dragon that he now called friend. Strapped to his back was the artificial tail fin, as well as the newly fixed Bola Cannon, though it appeared to be miniaturized to fit more as a rifle, and dragging him, was a large basket, full of something else. He continued to look around, thinking that Toothless was hiding from him like he did before. However, that wasn't the case, as he saw Toothless curled up by a rock, relaxing or sleeping at this point. Hiccup couldn't help but smile at this, knowing now that the dragon trusted him.

"Hey, there you are," Hiccup called out with a smile.

This caught Toothless's attention as his ears perked up, looking at the human that came by. He saw that Hiccup was carrying some weird looking thing on his back, and pushing a basket over. Whatever it was, looked to be too much for the boy to just simply carry it over to him. Either that, or the boy wasn't as strong as most Vikings his age should have been.

Hiccup stopped in front of Toothless, as the dragon got up on all fours, and slowly circled the boy in curiosity. "Alright, I brought you something for today," he said as he knocked over the basket, opening it up, and spilling the contents out, as it made a sort of slimy sound. "Okay, that was gross," Hiccup muttered.

Toothless cocked an eyebrow at that comment, but looked as the dragon's face was lit up with delight. It seemed that Hiccup had brought with him a whole basket of fish, each a different variety. In all of his life, the Night Fury had never seen this much different fish clustered together. But in all his life, Toothless had never been given fish at all by any human, except the boy that had stayed and befriended him.

"Let's see," Hiccup started as he set the basket aside, giving a list of the contents of fish. "We've got some salmon, some Icelandic Cod, a few Red Snappers," Hiccup said as he tried to make his way around Toothless as he dug through the fish, making sure he wasn't seen. He was almost there, until he mentioned, "… and one smoked eel."

Immediately, Toothless backed away, snarling at the fish pile. Hiccup stopped from his attempts to fasten the tail fin on, when he heard his dragon snarling like that. But it wasn't the snarl you'd hear out of anger, more like one if you'd hear a dragon cringe in fear. Hiccup arched an eyebrow as he walked to the pile; his face scrunching in concentrated thought as he knelt over the pile of fish. He looked to Toothless, getting as to where he was looking at, and immediately spot it. Sure enough, it was a yellow and black striped eel, as Hiccup picked it up, hanging it for Toothless to see.

The dragon immediately cringed back, halfway bringing his wings out, his ears pulled to the back, and his teeth shooting out as his eyes slit up. Hiccup looked at Toothless and back to the eel, as he asked, "You're afraid of this?" Toothless immediately snarled in fear as he nearly jumped back, when Hiccup slightly let the eel swing. "No, no, it's alright," Not wanting to scare the dragon any further, Hiccup threw the eel away. Immediately, Toothless calmed down and went back to the fish, as he defended, "Yeah, I don't like eel much, either."

Now that the eel was gone, Toothless was free to dig in the fish pile. Hiccup smirked at the scene, and while he was eating the fish, he had the chance to strap on the new tail fin. "Don't you mind me, I'll be back here," Hiccup casually told himself as he knelt down at the end of the tail, "Minding my own business."

He set the artificial fin down, and set it ready to strap on to the finless part of the tail. However, it proved a challenge on to itself, as Toothless moved his tail, twitching it slightly. Hiccup turned to see if Toothless had noticed what he was doing, but thankfully his luck held out. The dragon was more focused on eating the fish than anything else, even as he dunked his head into the basket to eat a fish he had spotted there.

As he saw this, Hiccup decided to hop on top of the tail, to keep it from swinging around. Now that he was on it, it refused to swing around, giving him the chance to fasten the fin on. He pulled it over, and positioned it correctly in parallel with the real fin. As Hiccup strapped the tail, on, Toothless rose up; the basket falling off his face as he felt something at his tail. He turned his head sideways, to see what was going on and saw Hiccup. He pulled back to the front; his eyes going wide and his ears pulled back.

As Hiccup made the final fastening on the belts, he sighed in success as he sat up to look at his handiwork.. The Viking boy was completely unaware of the Night Fury's wings, slowly folding out and stretching to the sides, almost as if he was about to take off.

"Alright," Hiccup reassured himself as he opened the tail fin, and examined it with the real one. They were almost completely identical, save for the fact that the artificial one was brown instead of black. Hiccup crossed his arm as he stroked his chin in accomplishment, "That's not too bad. It'll work, if I can see it in…"

Suddenly, Toothless shot up in the air, taking a startled and yelling in a panic Hiccup, as he grabbed onto the tail, holding for dear life. The dragon soared above the lake, making its way to the other side of the hidden canyon. So far, Toothless wasn't crashing, due to the fact that he hadn't change directions yet. Hiccup was holding on to dear life, until he noticed the tail fin he made had folded back, due to the rushing wing. He reached out, nearly stretching his arm out, and grabbed it, pulling it open.

The dragon then pulled out as he attempted to fly out of the canyon unfortunately, Toothless was on the verge of taking a rather nasty nose dive, knowing it was gonna crash again. But the moment that Hiccup opened the artificial fin… he pulled up from the nosedive and into the air, without even crashing into a tree or the ground at all. The dragon roared out in joy; it could fly again now.

The two were soaring in through the skies, flying overhead off in another direction, with Hiccup still hanging onto the tail. If Hiccup had a better place to sit down, he'd be amazed by the view when he looked down. In all his life, he had seen Berk on top of a cliff with his father once, but he never saw it like this before. It was, for a lack of a better word for the now smiling, slack-jawed Viking: Amazing.

Toothless flew down, to where a waterfall was, feeding into a river stream. He and Hiccup glided over the calm water, not even touching or disturbing the water at all.

Hiccup smirked at all this, knowing that the fin worked as he hollered in joy, "Yeah, it's working! I did it, I did it!"

Toothless heard the voice from behind him, and looked under to see Hiccup. The dragon furrowed his frown, and decided to get rid of the boy. He had made a sharp turn away from the waterfall; this caused hiccup to get thrown off as he skidded on the water's surface, until finally crashing into it, nearly fifteen feet away from the massive waterfall. However, as Toothless was about to fly away, the tail fin snapped closed again. The dragon tried to keep its balance, but to no avail as it crashed into the water.

Toothless resurfaced from the water, realizing it was only knee deep, even for Hiccup as he stood up, and shouted, "Yeah! Alright!"

RAAAAAOOOORRRRWWW!!!

Hiccup's shouts of joy over the success of the tail fin's functions, as he turned around freaked out, facing the waterfall. Even Toothless seemed freaked out as well as his ears folded back, snarling at the cave. The young Viking gulped, knowing full well that wasn't Toothless, nor was it any of the other dragons he knew about. This roar… it sounded much larger… for a larger dragon.

But the thoughts of what that was were pushed aside, as something shot out of the waterfall, smacking into Hiccup. He was thrown back to Toothless, as the dragon scooted over the side, to let Hiccup crash. The dragon walked back to him, as Hiccup groaned getting back up.

"That's all that's left of the last dragon slayer that tangled with me," a large Scottish male voice bellowed from behind the waterfall. "If I were you… I'd leave the Night Fury alone, and quit while you're ahead!"

Hiccup cocked an eyebrow as he looked in his lap. He found an object resembling that of a cannon ball, as he picked it up. Though it was no cannon ball… it was a wrinkled up rotting human head, with a roman helmet on top. Immediately, Hiccup nearly screamed out in terror as he tossed the head aside, and looked in front of him, to see the rest of the carcass that belonged to the boy, as well as still on the dead horse he had rode on.

Both Hiccup and Toothless jumped up and away, both freaking out by this. Hiccup reached from behind him, still having the bola rifle at the ready. Unfortunately, he had pulled the bite lever that was designed for Toothless, and it immediately fired. The bolas fired right into the waterfall and through it, pulling with it a cable to attach them to the rifle.

Both Toothless and Hiccup gulped, but Toothless turned a furrowed gaze to the boy, almost scolding him for what he did. All Hiccup said at this moment, was a low monotone, "Oh crud."

"HA!" the voice bellowed, "Is that the best you can do?"

Deciding not to provoke whoever owned the voice, Hiccup reasoned out, "Look, I don't know what you think," and gestured to Toothless, "But I'm not gonna hurt my dragon."

"A likely excuse," the voice shot out, not believing him, "I've got a collection of dragon slayers, Vikings, or knights that tried to fool me the same way. They all ended up dead and mantled in here as a pile of corpses. So if you don't want to join them, GET LOST!!!"

"I'm not leaving him here!"

Silence washed over the three, save for the water hitting the river. Then finally, Hiccup heard a small growl grow from the water fall, as both he and Toothless were getting a bit unnerved by it. The growl intensified, becoming louder by the second, making Hiccup nearly pale in fear, feeling that his heart could stop at any time. Now the growl was seething with an angered rage, the likes of which that couldn't even match his father's now.

Then finally, that voice came back out, sounding rather calm, "Alright, then. If you want to be stubborn about this, then I'll show you how costly your 'friendship' will be, boy!"

The waterfall erupted, as an even bigger object shot out of it and landed on the ground. As Hiccup had time to see, he was bared witness, as he and Toothless saw in front of them both, an old-fashion and very large Western Dragon, possibly Celtic, and colored in a magnificent scaly coat of sun yellow scales. The dragon couldn't have been more than twenty-five feet on the height level and sixty feet in length from nose to tail, and its wingspan was probably 35 or 50 feet long, stretching out as far as to almost match the wings of a plane. It had an elongated neck, as did most dragons, and a crown of horns adorning its head; two massive ones in the back, two on each sides of the head, and one on the end of each eyebrow. Its yellow catlike eyes, much like the Night Fury that he saw, but no nose horn either. Its hind legs were powerful looking, as was its forearms, hands and feet that could ensnare a human down, and all four limbs had four clawed appendages that the bone structure was resemblance to a human's. going down his neck and ending at its tail, were lined up perfectly rows of spikes, and an open portion on the middle of its back, almost as if someone could sit or stand there. On its back and neck, going all the way down to the tail, as well as forearms, thighs, and tail, as well as its helmet styled head, brown armored plating scales were there.. It had a noble and honorable aura around it, even if it was a dragon. And in Hiccup's astonishment replacing the fear in him, he knew of what this dragon was…

"The Golden Fleece," Hiccup whispered, nearly going bug eyed.

The dragon stretched out its massive, sun-blocking wings, and flapped them out, taking flight. It flew over them both, as it began to nearly disappear on them. However, Hiccup heard a sharp whipping sound, as if someone was pulling a rope hard and fast. It wasn't until it was too late, that he realized as he looked at the Bola Rifle, that the spool of rope he attached to it, was being pulled as fast as the dragon was disappearing. Immediately, he tried to get it off, the strap tangled up with him, but it wasn't fast enough.

The rope reached the end of the spool, tied into it, and snapped as it, the rifle, and a screaming Hiccup were pulled off the ground, flying twenty feet off the ground. He was being pulled away by the dragon's retreating form, as Hiccup shouted, "TOOTHLESS!! HELP!!!"

Just as surprised as Hiccup, the Night Fury flapped its wings to catch up to them. Unfortunately, the artificial tail fin was still closed, so when he tried to turn, he fell back down on the ground. Toothless looked behind him and saw the tail fin closed; the dragon huffed at this turn of events. Though sucking it up, Toothless decided if id couldn't fly after them, he could at least keep up with them on the ground, as he sprinted after them, as fast as his legs could get to them. The Night Fury just wished Hiccup would be alive in time when he got to where the Golden Fleece was flying to.

* * *

**Back with Hiccup****

* * *

**

The poor boy was hanging on to a thread, or in this case rope, as he grasped onto his rifle, still dangling in the air. The dragon was soaring over the forest, while Hiccup grasped on for dear life. When he was riding on Toothless, it was easy, he was grabbing onto the dragon, where it was safe. But now that he was only grabbing onto the rope that was tied around the dragon's right foot… he was really wishing to get down now. The Golden Fleece felt something tagging on the back of his foot. He turned his head to see what it was, and saw that the bola the boy had shot at him, was wrapped around his ankle, attached to a rope and to the rifle. And surprised enough, the dragon saw that the boy was still holding on to it. The dragon turned its attention to in front of him, and made a powerful right turn, heading to the woods, and nearly swinging the boy into the air for dear life.

"Oh, man. This dragon can't stay in the air forever," Hiccup yelled aloud to himself.

"Well, neither can you," the voice from the cave bellowed out, almost hearing what Hiccup had said.

Hiccup, still confused as to where that voice came from, looked around as he asked himself quietly, "Who's saying that?" but he didn't have time to figure it out as he saw a branch going right at him. Pulling his legs up, he dodge it, but then shouted out to the dragon, "HEY! SLOW DOWN!"

But that didn't happen, as the beast flew over to the forests, taking Hiccup with him. Hiccup screamed in a panic, as the same voice called out, "Come, visit the woods!"

Hiccup was thrown into the forest, all the trees were just crashing points for the boy now. Luckily, he was able to swing himself out of the way, or push against one of each with his feet. He was able to do so, but not for long as it would seem. For when he dodged one of the trees, he smacked into one, and then another, and then one more.

Hiccup groaned to himself, "Oh, it can't get any worse." then, as if the Gods had made him regret those words, Hiccup smashed into a branch… hitting him below the belt, as he gasped for air and groaned, "Yep. It got worse."

Then the voice came up again, chuckling as he called out to him, "How do you like the ride so far?"

Hiccup groaned, "Ugh, this has gotta end."

And his prayers were answered as he saw it coming right for him. Coming right at him, was a tree, branching out two ways, like a fork in the road. Switching out his arm gauntlet, he slipped it on and made the claw movement, causing the blade to shoot out. With it, he cut the arm strap, and grabbed onto the rifle, holding it horizontally. Then he aimed himself for the fork, slamming into the tree, but locking the rifle in between the fork tree itself. The rope snapped, not breaking or flinching at this moment, but pulled at the Golden Fleece, halting it from its flight, and sending the dragon crashing into the ground, plowing down the trees as it came to a halt.

Hiccup slid down the tree, leaning against it as his feet connected to the ground. He held his left side as he groaned out. Then, coming out of the forest, Toothless stopped in his sprint, right next to Hiccup. The young Viking looked to his dragon, halfway exhausted as he groaned, "And where were you?"

The Night Fury cocked an eyebrow and furrowed his eyes, as if to say, 'What, are you kidding me?' to the boy.

Just then, they both heard a large growling groan come from the dragon that had tried to get away. Both boy and dragon, both curious and this time without fear, walked towards the downed beast. They looked as the Golden Fleece was slowly but painfully, getting back up on to his feet. Hiccup, not taking any chanced, clenched his right fist, causing the blade to go back in, and converted it into Shield Mode. As soon as they were close, which was about fifteen feet away from it, Hiccup was just amazed by the sight of it.

"Whoa," Hiccup exclaimed as the beast was slowly getting back to its feet, "I-I read the Dragon Manual about this dragon. But I didn't think there were any around left. I mean, the book said they were all extinct."

"They are extinct. Almost." Both heard that very same voice from the cave, but turned their direction to the dragon, as it looked to them… and spoke to them with its moving lips, "I _am_ the last one."

"How…" Hiccup started, not easily grasping this discovery as he weakly said and pointed to the dragon, "… how are you doing that?"

The dragon's ferocity was gone, and replaced with a confused look on his face as he looked to the boy as he got back up, "Doing what?"

"That," Hiccup pointed, freaking out even more, "How are you doing the Talking thing?"

The Dragon shrugged, "Mnn, I don't know," he pointed to Hiccup as he casually answered, "The same way you did: Mama, Dada, Lamb, Fish. After 1200 years, you pick it up."

Hiccup's uneasy freaked out moment was short lived, as a smile was plastered to his face, with excitement, "Wow. I never, not in a long time, would ever think to see a talking dragon."

"And you'll never live long enough to tell anyone, Viking," the Dragon growled as its vicious attitude came back, and it brought its arrowhead-shaped tail tip up for the two to see. Then suddenly, the ends split open to reveal two curved blades on both ends, flexing and shaking like a rattlesnake's tail, as the dragon shouted, "NEVER!!!"

The Fleeced whipped its tail like a mace and a whip all in one, as it brought it crashing down to Hiccup. But Toothless flipped the boy onto his back, and sprinted out of that area, as the tail slammed into the ground. The Fleece pulled it out, leaving a fissure in the ground, as it jumped to the side, and swung it at the two like a whip. Toothless crashed to the ground with Hiccup still on, as the tail slashed over them, slashing through a section of the forest, that brought down at least twenty trees.

"Oh, so you're still hiding behind your friendship ruse, eh?" the Golden Fleece asked.

The mighty dragon then inhaled deeply, just as Hiccup saw the dragon's nostrils glow from the inside. And then, with a mighty blow, it unleashed two fire balls, aimed to the far side and back of them both. When both balls struck the ground, two huge flaming explosions erupted from those spots. The blasts were intensely powerful, nearly leveling those sections of the forests into ash piles, as the land that they hit were now barren, smoky, and black and red.

Hiccup, immediately got up, with his shield protecting him, and Toothless's wings wrapped around the dragon for protecting himself. The young Viking brought down his shield as he asked, defiantly to the dragon, "And how do I know that whole extinction bit you pointed out wasn't just a ruse either? How do I know your kind aren't just hiding out?"

The dragon had calmed a bit as he stated, "Haven't you noticed the pickings for the Golden Fleece Dragons are rather slim these days?"

Lowering his guard for the moment, Hiccup nervously pointed out, "My father once told me that my great-grandfather got one of your kind before."

"Your great-grandfather?"

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock II," Hiccup answered.

At hearing that name, the dragon snarled as his voice was seethed with anger, "I thought there was something familiar when I sniffed your scent in the air. He was the one that killed the Elder. He and I were the last ones, now there's only me." he then snarled as he taunted, "Tell me, how does it feel to be related to a man that was responsible for wiping out an entire race of dragons, eh? Must be very proud of yourself, decended to a genocidal monster."

"Look, I'm not hear to talk about my family past," Hiccup defended, though he felt a sharp stab from that last sentence from the dragon. "And don't talk about my family like that, buster!"

"No," the Golden Fleece snarled, as it kept its eyes on the boy, "You're just here to kill me and that Night Fury for sport. Or is it just so you could mantle our hearts and our heads in your living room as trophies to show off?"

"Alright, that's taking it too far," Hiccup stated, not liking this conversation at all.

"And when there are no more dragons, of any kind left in the world, how will your people make a living?" the Golden Fleece continued to taunt, circling the boy, not even mentioning the young Viking was walking under the rope that was still tied to his ankle, and stuck on the trees, as he finished taunting, "Maybe you could work as a living crash dummy for ships. You take on punishment pretty well."

"Okay, that's…" Hiccup protested.

But it didn't go far, as the Dragon pulled back his right leg. This caused the rope to snap right up… underneath Hiccup below the belt. Hiccup yelped in a gasping voice, nearly squeaking as a mouse. Toothless saw the whole thing, worried for Hiccup, as the Viking boy was thrown back to the ground.

Hiccup crashed on his back, clutching his 'marble sack' as he groaned aloud, "Ugh. Twice… in one day, Odin?"

The Golden Fleece dragon looked down at Hiccup, who was still flat on his back, clutching below the belt in pain. "Since you seem to be less experienced in combat, allow me to give you a free lesson: Always mind your surroundings, boy. The whole area around you can be used as a weapon to fight your opponents." The dragon growled fiercely and angrily at the boy, as he slunked towards him. But at the last moment, Toothless jumped right in front of him, looking up to him with pleading eyes.

"Fury, get out of my way," the Golden Fleece bellowed his order to the small Night Fury.

As Hiccup was starting to get back on his knees, he saw Toothless in front of him, protecting him from the Golden Fleece. He then looked at the Golden Fleece Dragon, and immediately switched on his arm blade. However, the blade's clicking sound, right before Hiccup could made the clawed finger trigger activate the blade, the Golden Fleece heard that sound. Its attention was then drawn back to the boy, as he shoved Toothless aside, just as the Night Fury watched in horror.

The Golden Fleece reared its head upward, while extending its jaw out, making it big enough to scoop up Hiccup in his maw. When that happened, a pair of cobra-like fangs extended out, making it look even more menacing. The beast then reared its head back, as Hiccup nearly paled at this. Then finally, with a low throat growl, the Golden Fleece roared viciously, just as Toothless was charging in to rescue Hiccup.

But it was too late.

The Golden Fleece pounced forward, making Hiccup shout out in terror, as the fang filled mouth came on top of him. It then scooped him in, with Hiccup in moments of being pierced by the razor sharp teeth. Toothless was running forward, preparing one of his light blue flame shots to fire at the Fleece to release the young boy that had become his first human friend. However, the Night Fury stopped in its tracks, as it took witness to the outcome of the Golden Fleece's attack.

The Golden Fleece's eyes shot wide open, as a surprised grunt came from its throat. It lifted up on all fours, nearly towering over the ten foot Night Fury in its twenty-five feet status. Toothless gazed up at the dragon's opened gnaw mouth, and saw for itself why he had stopped. Hiccup was sitting on the Dragon's tongue, still alive, and pointing the arm gauntlet's blade right on top of the roof of the dragon's mouth.

"If your teeth come down," Hiccup advised as he refused to budge in his tooth-filled trap, "… then this blade goes up… right through _your_ brain!"

* * *

**Nightfall**

* * *

Night had finally reached the forest, and both Hiccup and the Golden Fleece had not budged an inch from their spots. The Golden Fleece's jaw had refused to move an inch, while in Hiccup's spot, he remained sitting on the tongue with his arm blade pointing up on the roof of his mouth, waiting to pierce the flesh of the dragon. However, the Dragon was able to mutter, even with his jaw opened and locked in place, "If your sword goes up, then my teeth come down… tearing through _your_ body!"

Meanwhile, watching this battle go on, sitting on the ground and twitching his ears, was Toothless. So far, the two had barely nudged when Hiccup had corned the Fleece with sticking his blade at the roof of the dragon's mouth, threatening to run it through its brain. Toothless just watched, until the dragon let out a large yawn from its gummed mouth. The Night Fury was trying his best, blinking his eyelids open and smacking his lips from the yawn, hoping for some conclusion to this pointless fight.

Hiccup wasn't exactly having the easiest time of his life, sitting in the dragon's open mouth. Sitting on the tongue wasn't the best seat in the house; his pants were becoming damp with the drool, as was his shirt. And the breath that came down the throat, wasn't the most sweet-smelling that you'd want to keep smelling. In truth, Hiccup was having the hardest time right now trying not to either pass out, or vomit in the dragon's mouth.

However, before he could sigh in complaint, he spotted something stuck in the dragon's right molar. Freeing his left hand, Hiccup grabbed it, and with a few tugs, he yanked it out. Thought he wish that he hadn't, as he saw that it was the remains of a dead man's right hand. The flesh had all been gone, leaving tidbits of rotted flesh to the bone, shreds of cloth, and a ring of European design.

Hiccup gulped as he recognized the symbol on the ring, "Thor's Hammer. The Order of the Dragon Slayers." And with that, he threw the limb out.

The Golden Fleece felt the tug, and sighed in relief, "Oh, thank you. That must've been Elgamore the Merciless; he tried to make a name for himself just by hunting me down. It's been stuck in there for almost a year now." the dragon then asked Hiccup, in a more polite tone than his angered on, "Um, say… could you get your buttocks off my tongue?"

Hiccup groaned, feeling fatigue was taking him, "Why should you be comfortable?" He then listed his complaints of this situation, "For one thing, my clothing is sobbing wet with your drool, sharp teeth are nearly poking my back, my arms are getting tired from holding this spot since dusk. And what's even worse, your breath is rancid!"

"Well, what do you expect?" the Dragon pointed out, "With old knights, Vikings, and Dragonslayers remains rotting between my molars." the Dragon then sighed, "Oh Odin, my mouth is so dry."

Then suddenly, Hiccup heard an unnatural roaring sound coming from the Dragon's throat. And then noticed a slight stifle from the dragon's nostrils. The boy paled as he realized what this was: the dragon was gonna gag. "Oh no," Hiccup pleaded, fearing the worst, "No, no, no, no… NO!" And suddenly, the dragon let one out, as suddenly, snot shot up, smacking Hiccup in the face. After taking a moment to let the feeling wash away from him, Hiccup shuttered as he groaned, "Great. Just what I wanted: a slime bath."

"Sorry about that," the Golden Fleece stated, but then spoke out after a moment of silence, "It seems that we're in a bit of a stalemate. Wouldn't you say?"

After Hiccup had finished wiping the snot off his face, he answered, "Yeah. But I can go for two days without sleep. That sorta happened when Gobber and I worked on the village's equipment for two days without sleep." He sighed as he remembered that, "Those were busy days."

"Well, I can go for 2 or 3 weeks without it," the Dragon topped off.

Hiccup groaned aloud as he tried to shake the exhaustion in both his eyes and his arms, "UGH! I'll run you through before I nod off."

"And I'll chomp you," the Dragon chuckled. "Marvelous, we'll kill each other."

"Well, considering you're in a better mood than you were before," Hiccup asked, stretching his left arm out to get the kinks out. "What do you suggest?"

"A temporary truce," the Dragon answered, "You get out of my mouth, then you, me, and the Night Fury can all talk face-to-face."

Hiccup was considering it, but he had to ask, "How do I know you won't try and kill me again?"

"I give you my word," the dragon sighed.

"Considering you're the first Talking Dragon I've ever known," Hiccup stated as he pointed out, "It's kinda hard to go with just your word."

The Dragon groaned as he shouted, "UGH! You're just like your great-grandfather. Albeit you're a bit thin to be his great-grandson, you're a stubborn lout!"

And then without warning, the dragon's tongue left Hiccup's butt, and used it to push the boy out. Hiccup crashed on to the ground, back first, alerting Toothless to finally wake up. But before he could get to him, the Golden Fleece trapped the boy, with his claws pinning him down. Hiccup tried to break free of himself as best he could, but no avail as he groaned out in defeat.

He looked up at the Golden Fleece, who was trying to set his jaw back in place. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked, feeling defeated, "Go ahead and kill me."

Finally setting his jaw back, the Golden Fleece snarled at the boy, "I don't want to kill you. I never did!" He then huffed as he stated, "And I don't want you to kill me or the Night Fury, either. What do we gain from all this? If you kill me, my whole race goes into complete extinction, without even being known that we even existed," he then pointed to Hiccup, "And if I kill you, I wait around for the next fool wanting to carve a name for themselves." The dragon then sighed, "I'm tired of skulking in darkness, and lurking in holes."

"First of all, I wastn trying to kill Toothless," Hiccup stated.

"Toothless?" the Golden Fleece asked.

"The Night Fury over there," Hiccup pointed to, as the dragon looked and saw Toothless, in pounce position, snarling at the Golden Fleece. "And second, I didn't know there were any dragons living in Berk. We just found you out of pure coincidence while we were testing to see if the tail fin I made him worked."

The Dragon didn't seem convinced as he asked more, "Then what was with the bola cannon? People who try to be friendly with dragons wouldn't exactly carry that around, would they?"

"I was gonna make that later on as a gift for Toothless," Hiccup defended, getting the Fury's attention as he listened on. "I wanted him to have that as sort of an extra defense, considering he's got a 5 shot limit."

"Eight," the Fleece replied.

"Wha?" Hiccup asked.

"Night Furies have a shot limit of eight," the Golden Fleece corrected, not sounding convinced.

Hiccup sighed as he finally shouted in frustration, "What is it gonna take for you to believe me, huh?!"

The Golden Fleece was quiet for a moment, glaring and looking at the boy with a cocked eyebrow. Finally he sighed as he lowered down; his jaws nearly reaching his body. Seeing this, Toothless charged forward, roaring, until the Golden Fleece turned his attention to him fast.

"Stand back, Night Fury," the Golden Fleece answered, with a calm tone, as he turned to Hiccup and lowered his snout, "Like I said, I won't kill him."

When he looked at Hiccup, the Viking boy gave him a reassured nod. "It's alright. I'm not too crazy about this, but… " he shifted his gaze to the giant creature standing over him. "If he says he not gonna harm me, I think I can take his word for it." Then as if reassurance washed on the dragon, Toothless backed away for a moment.

The Golden Fleece closed his eyes, as he positioned his nostrils over Hiccup's still trapped form, and took in a huge whiff. The young Viking could feel his body being pulled towards the large nostrils, as they sucked in the various smell that permeated his flesh. For a long time, the barren and charred forest all around them remained in a state of dead silence as the Golden Fleece studied the young Viking's scent. His sharp teeth clattered as he quietly gnashed his elongated maw. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of silence had passed, the dragon lifted his head back up. And he immediately lifted his claw, letting Hiccup go as he got up, and was joined by Toothless, who stood by his side.

The Dragon then sat down, laying on his stomach with his arms perching him up. He looked to the unlikely duo, and with a calm tone, he stated, "Well then, let's hear your story."

* * *

**An Hour Later**

* * *

Hiccup and Toothless were sitting by a rock parallel to the Golden Fleece at this very moment. Hiccup was sitting comfortably on the rock, as Toothless rested by his side, resting comfortably on a burn bed in the ground that he had made. Hiccup had illuminated on the week's experiences with the Golden Fleece about the situation with him and Toothless. The story was a bit too hard to swallow for the mighty dragon to grasp. It wasn't every day that you learn that a human had become friends with a dragon. In the truth of it all, the Golden Fleece seemed to believe it all.

"A human befriending a dragon," he stated as he chuckled at this notion, a small grin on his face, "Now I've seen everything." he then pointed to Hiccup as he defended, "Though it does seem rather believable… seeing as how you didn't want to kill him, it was pretty obvious that you didn't want to kill me either, now that I realize it."

Hiccup perked up from that and asked, "Wait! You knew that I wasn't trying to kill you!" he then bolted from his sitting position as he asked, "Well, how do you know that?"

"Because you didn't go for this," the Golden Fleece stated as he pointed to the point of his neck where his throat connected to his chest. There, plainly easy to see and as big as a human's head, a diamond shaped piece of vulnerable flesh was there. "This… is where my heart is," the Fleece stated as he looked to the boy, "You're an intelligent young man; you knew where to strike me this whole time, and yet you try and stab my brain."

Hiccup sighed at this as his shoulders slouched in defeat, "That obvious?"

"Pretty much," the Golden Fleece answered, but then looked to Toothless as he asked, "So why the friendship? If indeed you are Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the II's great-grandson… why all this then?"

Hiccup seemed quiet himself a bit, trying to think of an answer for that. He looked to Hiccup as he thought about it, and then back to face the Golden Fleece. Taking a moment to answer that, with the Golden Fleece eagerly awaiting the boy's answer, Hiccup finally answered, "I guess… nobody in my village's ever been my friend. I mean, Gobber's more of a second father figure, but aside from him, everyone else just sees me as a walking hazard. I'm pretty much an embarrassment to the whole tribe, the whole village… even my own father." the Golden Fleece seemed surprised by that, as Hiccup sighed and turned to look at Toothless, who was gnawing on a piece of smoked wood with his teeth, "He's the only one that actually likes to be around me. The only one I've ever considered as a true friend." Hiccup just sighed as he sadly chuckled to himself, "Out of three hundred years, in Berk's history, I'm the first one out of all of us to ever befriend a dragon. And he ends up being the first friend I've ever had."

The Fleece then seemed a bit taken by that, and turned his gaze giving himself a quick kick in the tail. His mouth scrunched up, feeling more like a jackass than a dragon at this point, bringing a painful subject for the boy to bring out. So he decided to change the subject of the matter at hand to ease the tension. "Well, uh… um, changing the subject. Didn't your father ever teach you to pick your battles wisely? Let alone how to fight at all?" the Golden Fleece asked Hiccup. The boy didn't answer that question, as he just turned away, looking angered and ashamed at the same time. The Fleece even took notice when Toothless tried to get Hiccup to turn around, but the boy refused. It was with a sad frown, obviously knowing that he had struck a harsh nerve, deduced the problem as he asked, "Your father's not the teaching sort, I take it?"

"No, not really," Hiccup replied as he found his rock and sat on it, with Toothless plopping down next to it, as Hiccup finished, "He's more of the 'One-sided conversationalist, disappointed that he didn't get a macho Viking son, locking me inside the house the whole time when there's dragons or danger, and going away and never teaching me anything' sort."

"Oh," the Fleece stated, looking sorry for the young teenager, and to Toothless, who seemed a bit understanding of the boy's problem. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, but hey," Hiccup shrugged as he finished wiping the drool off his gauntlet, "So far, I'm, ah… doin' better."

The Golden Fleece didn't seem to buy it, but was plotting up something, as he looked at the boy with a cocked eyebrow, "Is that so?" he then strode over to the boy, and lowered his head to the boy as he smirked, "Well, since you spared my life, I owe you a Life Debt. For that, I am obliged to help you with anything that you ask me of."

"Anything?" Hiccup asked, sounding rather disbelieving in this. He looked to Toothless, who sat up with his ears twitched, and shot his eyes to the Golden Fleece and back to Hiccup, almost telling him to accept the offer. Deciding to humor him, he sighed as he answered, "Okay, I accept. You can try making me better at Dragon Training; help make me at being a better Viking." But even then Hiccup knew the answer to that; a Dragon helping a human in Dragon Training? It would have been a flat out…

"Very well," the Fleece answered, with a surprised smug look on his face. "I accept."

"Wha?" Hiccup asked, very surprised by this reply.

"I'll train you to be the best Dragon Fighting Viking that ever existed," the Golden Fleece proudly replied, as he gently tapped Hiccup's head with his index claw. "I'll be getting you physically fit, adding some muscle to your toothpick body, as well as pound a few skills and secrets into that sponge you call _your_ brain."

"Wait!" Hiccup tried to refuse this offer, "I never said I …"

"From now on," the Golden Fleece Dragon laid down the rules, "After the Training in your village, we'll meet up at the place you and Toothless stay at. There, I won't let out of my sight, and demand only excellence in your commitment to your request, and only your best in everything else."

"But, you can't…" Hiccup objected.

Then the Golden Fleece smirked as he pointed, with finally slamming his clawed fist on the ground, "Until I feel that you _and _Toothless are both ready, you won't so much as eat, sleep, or scratch/dig into your own bum without my say so."

Finally, Hiccup got fed up, as he looked at the Golden Fleece, both sharply and scolding as he shot out, while standing six inches from the dragon's face, "D-Don't do me any favors!!!"

Toothless just sighed and looked the other way, knowing this conversation was only one-sided at this point.

"Oh, you can be sure of that, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III," the Golden Fleece smirked as he lightly nudged him with his wing, "You can be sure of that."

* * *

**Next Chapter: Dragon Training… and Being Trained by a Dragon; Make a Viking Out of You**

* * *

**For those who are guessing, yes, the Golden Fleece is the dragon from Dragonheart. To me and for this story, he's somewhat like Hiccup's Yoda and for the other Dragons, their Aslan . But when I started this, I felt that, like Gobber is a second father to him, the dragon could also be a Grandfather figure for Hiccup, in supporting him and encouraging his unique traits, while everyone else in the village just scoff at him and don't believe in these things. The Golden Fleece will be a big factor in helping Hiccup become the man that he was destined to be, as well as encourage the friendship between Dragon and Human. And as such, if this dragon was in the movie adaptation, his voice actor would have been Sean Connery.**


	6. Make a Viking out of You

**How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Dragon Training… and Being Trained by a Dragon; Make a Viking Out of You**

* * *

**Next Morning**

**Dragon Training Coliseum**

* * *

Once again, for the next day, Dragon Training for the Viking teenagers, was what awaited for them all. Hiccup, who would have been usually non-excited about this, like the other two times, seemed not to mind this one. In the arena, several boulders, small and large, had been moved all around the arena, creating a sort of canyon environment. How Gobber them in there in the first place, nobody even knew at this point.

At this point, all they had were their shields, Hiccup with his arm gauntlet in shield mode. But instead of their usual weapons, they had with them a set of bolas. They were wondering within the arena, with their bolas at the ready. Well, six of them anyway, Hiccup was having trouble trying to set his up, in which they were all tangled. However, as they were walking and wandering around the arena, a large lizard like shadow loomed over them.

"Today, in Dragon Training," Gobber stated as he addressed the students from atop the stadium, and this time his had was changed into a fan as he waved himself. "It's all about Aim and Immobilization."

Suddenly, from where Hiccup was walking into, a huge blast of the brightest red flame shot out nearly five feet in front of him, searing the floor at where he was about to walk into. As soon as the mighty stream of flames died down, Hiccup had reason to worry. Right where he was about to walk into, was now a black and red mess, with spots oozing with molten hot lava; even the rocks that had been making the path were searing and melting by the heat. It wasn't until Hiccup had heard a low rumbled growl that he looked up in fear.

There, latched onto one of the larger rocks, the dragon of the day was located. It was similar to Toothless, the Night Fury, though it appeared to be thirteen feet in length, but just around the same height as him. The dragon's body appeared to be a mixture of two reptiles; one turtle and the other a frilled lizard. The body was colored dark orange, and was strong built in the front, with two very powerful looking arms, but thin by waist, thigh, and very powerful running hind legs, both thighs had two grayish black triangular ports that flexed in and out, the same on the forearms, letting out what appeared to be smoke. The long whipping tail was covered on top open volcano mouth-shaped ports, the inside of them glowing lava red and smoke coming out of them as well. On the upper back, going from neck to mid-lower back, was a grayish black turtle-like shell, which on either side, had two hexagon-shaped red spots, and on top, one open hexagon port that glowed red, spewing out smoke, and the shell was split from shoulder blade to tail. The upper part of the shell was shaped curved like, almost as if it was meant to have a saddle placed there, the neck and shoulder area were nearly covered by the shell's trimming. The forearms were cylinder shaped and at the ends, split into four places, with four velociraptor claws on each end, including three on its back feet. Its neck was elongated enough to resemble a turtle's, and its head was turtle shape as well. However, one difference was that on top of the head, shading the eyes, a boomerang shaped protrusion grew there, shading the eyes and looking like some sort of hammerhead. Two sharp teeth stuck out from the bottom, and it had the darkest red eyes you'd ever seen. This was the Vicious Volcanoback, much like the Monstrous Nightmare, it was one of the deadliest of the dragons.

Hiccup gulped as he told himself, "And now the running begins." And immediately bolted as the dragon's drooling lava mouth spewed out a stream of the same colored flames at Hiccup, missing him as he ran a corner.

"The Vicious Volcanoback," Gobber stated as he lectured the students. "Next to the Deadly Nadder, this beast has the most vicious fire breath of all the known dragons." as Gobber went on with the lectures, the Volcanoback's back opened up like a ladybug's shell. Out of it came two red membrane wings that flapped like a dragon's wings would. Inside the back, were two ports that seemed to breathe as well, but started to glow bright red as heat was pumping through them.

"Also the most unusual of the dragons, close to the Zippleback," Gobber added as he fanned a bit, "Unlike most of the dragons, it does fly, but not just by its wings, but by the ports on its back that blast fire to propel it at another target."

And just like Gobber said, the ports in its back immediately blasted out fire, as it propelled the dragon off the rock and towards another one, acting like an organic jetpack to the beast.

The twins and Syn were waltzing around, cautiously looking upward, keeping an eye out for the dragon. Syn was keeping a close eye out for the dragon, even if she was looking to get burned. However, the twins were exactly cooperative, as once again, they were arguing. This time, they were playing a game of tug-o-war with their bolas, as they tried to bite each other's heads off.

"Give me the bola," Ruffnut shot at him.

"You throw like a girl," Tuffnut.

"That's because I am a girl, idiot," shot Ruffnut.

"Really?" Tuffnut started, pushing into his sister, "If you are a girl, then you must've got beaten with an ugly stick."

"Oh yeah?" Ruffnut shoved back, "Then if you're a boy, you must've got beat with a beauty stick, 'cause you look more like a girl."

Syn slapped herself on the forehead, then turned to the twins, "Can you two stop arguing for two little minutes?"

Suddenly, the Volcanoback came into position as it perched itself above them, snarling right at the trio. Syn sighed as she stated, "Get your bolas at the ready." she turned around and spotted the two still fighting over it, despite the obvious danger they were in. She sighed as she looked to the Volcanoback that came down at her, "Alright, I'll take it on."

"Look out," Hiccup shouted as he ran to their corner, and crashed into Syn.

The two groaned as Hiccup got up on his knees, as did Syn. Then the twins decided to poke fun at them both as Ruffnut mocked, "Now she's his type."

"Hope Astrid doesn't get jealous," Tuffnut joked.

However, the twins were no longer joking, as the red flames nearly got them, they were now running for their lives. Hiccup saw this as he got up, helping Syn up as well. "C'mon, let's go," he started as he grabbed her arm and tried to get out of there. Unfortunately, Syn wasn't budging from her spot, as he nearly panicked in his shout, "Syn! Will you get a move on; we're gonna get fried!!!"

However, she didn't stand there, scared stiff like a board because she was scared. It was made evident when she shouted, "C'mon, Big boy! Blow me with your flames!!!"

Then, as if to answer her request, the dragon gave her what she wanted, as it fired blast right at her. Fortunately, Hiccup pulled her down just in time, as the flame shot went over them, but still Syn felt the heat of the flames pass over her. The smile on her face lit up, as a twinkle in her eye was shown. When the flames died down, Hiccup and Syn got up, with Hiccup noticing that the bolas she had, were now burnt to ash. He then turned to her as he asked, "What is with… you?" he finished as a look of confusion was on his face.

Despite the horrifying ordeal they went through, Syn seemed rather… elated at this moment. Her cheeks were flushed, a sparkle in her eye, as she hugged herself embracingly. She sighed as she let out a small moan of pleasure, "That… was… spectacular. Oh, the ecstasy."

Hiccup just helped her up, while she went through her ecstatic experience, "Okay, you get excited and all warm inside whenever fire gets near you, I get it, Syn." he then pulled her away as they both ran for it, "Let's move it!!!"

"Wait, hold on," she fought for a moment, as she reached for her belt, and pulled one of the canisters.

As soon as the Volcanoback came rushing down on them on ground level, Syn was ready. While it was still on the wall, she threw the canister, as soon as she could. When it hit the wall, it suddenly blew up, causing the dragon to lose its hold on the wall, and tumble down. It crashed on its side as it scudded to get back up again.

"Alright," Syn called out, as she and Hiccup ran for it.

"Great, now let's move it!"

The two ran through the maze, even with the Volcanoback chasing after them with its wings out and the flaming ports in its back. "Focus, Hiccup. It's all good to run, but when it comes to the Volcanoback, you've got to stand and fight," Gobber called out.

The two were running for a while, until Hiccup ran into Astrid, who wasn't expecting him. He plowed into her, right as the two bounced into Fishlegs, and fell back on the ground. The two started to get back up, with Syn teasing them both, "You two just find the biggest excuses to get together."

"Um, sorry, Astrid, I…" Hiccup started to apologize to the female Viking warrior.

But she cut it off, with a swift elbow butt in the stomach, knocking all the air out of Hiccup, as he fell back to the ground. When Fishlegs saw this, he muttered, "Forgiveness - -6; Aggression - 10; Chances of survival…" suddenly, the Volcanoback's flames shot to the side, melting a hole in the rocks, and striding right in there, and turned to look at the teens, with its mouth drooling with steaming hot drool, and attacking intentions in its eyes. At this sight, all Fishlegs could squeak out was, "… dwindling."

However, Astrid grabbed her bolas, and was about to make sure those chances rose back up. She swung the bolas long enough to get a good momentum. However, the dragon saw this and prepared to charge up another shot. Syn spotted this and grabbed another cylinder canister and tossed it at the rock next to the Volcanoback. When it went off, it unleashed a compressed cloud of smoke that nearly covered the Volcanoback, but was enough to distract it and look in the direction of the smoke. Astrid saw her chance, and threw the bolas right at the beast's maw, closing its mouth and holding it in place.

"Good, Astrid. Job well done," Gobber cried out. But then his smirked all-knowingly, "But it's not over yet. For you see, the Volcanoback is one of the few dragons that don't just blast fire from its mouth…"

And it was made evident, as the dragon lifted itself off the ground, and stood on its hind legs. It then pointed its forearms right at them, with the palms revealing to be nothing but open ports, glowing red with flames. "It can also fire flames from the open ports in its hands," Gobber pointed out.

Then suddenly, the beast shot out two streams of fire from its palms, hitting only the walls that the teens were between. The area around them was smoldering in molten fired rock, with no way for them to get out. The beast loomed right at them, preparing to fry them out, until Snotlout came charging in from behind, screaming out, "SNEAK ATTACK!!!"

However, the Volcanoback took notice of this, and its face was more tried annoyance than rage. It didn't turn to face the charging Viking teen, though lifted its tail up, going unnoticed by Snotlout. Then, it struck Snotlout in the head once like a mallet, then a second time, and then a final third time, until the Viking incoherently blabbed out, "Last call… already?" And then plopped to the ground, unconscious.

The dragon snuffed, seeing that one last obstacle was taken care of. It then turned back to the other Vikings, as Astrid threw another set of bolas… right at its hind legs. The beast was no longer able to hold its footing; the imbalance of its chest and legs, both different sizes and without the legs spread apart to help balance itself, there was only one way to go. The beast toppled over and fell flat on its chest, struggling to get itself back up again, but Astrid wasn't about to let that happen. Smacking Hiccup from getting up again, thinking he was gonna do something stupid again, he fell back down as she grabbed her shield and ran straight for the Volcanoback. She then smacked the blunt end of the shield into its eyes, knocking it out cold, ending the training session.

"Excellent job, as always, Astrid," Gobber pointed out, as he was now in the arena, and dragging away the knocked out Volcanoback, "Next time, will be the Hideous Zippleback. That's when things get tricky."

Hearing that name, Syn seemed to nearly freeze up, looking a little terrified by that name. Astrid caught her breath and turned around to face Hiccup, who was getting back up on his feet. He rubbed his chest in slight pain for being elbowed for no apparent reason. He stood straight up as Astrid shoved him forcefully, venomously as he defended, "What? What'd I do? I stayed out of the way."

She turned around sharply, almost dared to answer those questions. And she did as she got into his face, jabbing him in the chest, "Let me see: you're weak, you cringe whenever there's a dragon around, you're barely able handle any weapon, you basically don't belong here."

"What?" Hiccup shook his head in defense as he tried his best, "But this time, I wasn't…"

"That's just it! You weren't doing anything. That's why you don't belong here," she jabbed her finger into his shoulder, pushing him back while she continued, "You're an embarrassment of this Training, as well as being a Viking," she leaned towards him and put her ax in his face. "So if you have any respect for us, and what we do, you won't show up tomorrow." She turned around and walked away, the other Viking teens following her, and leaving Hiccup alone with what she said.

However, all he could muster out, clearly hurt by her words, groped for a response was a wave and a weak, "Okay…"

* * *

**Later that Day**

**Toothless's Canyon Home**

* * *

Hiccup had arrived to the Night Fury's canyon home, but he wasn't exactly in a good mood. He climbed down the canyon and just sulkily walked in, kicking a rock as if it were a ball. He huffed to himself, feeling rather upset; the words that Astrid had shot to him stung deeply, and in truth… she was right, as he slowed down, the anger leaving his heart. He sighed as he didn't notice Toothless get up, his ears twitching, obviously excited to see the boy. But stopped as he saw the frown on the young Viking's face.

Hiccup felt a little nudge on his shoulder, as he noticed Toothless now, and gave the dragon a sad smile. "Oh, hey," he stated, as he patted his friend's nose. Toothless cocked an eyebrow as he looked to Hiccup, asking silently about the day today, "Sorry, boy. Today… hasn't been the best one lately." He then looked around, trying to wonder where the Golden Fleece Dragon was, considering he had told him that they would begin the training today. "Hey, where's that other dragon?"

Toothless pulled back for a moment, and headed towards the end of the canyon. Deciding on it, Hiccup decided to follow after him.

* * *

**Out of the Canyon**

After a quick climb, the duo finally reached the edge and pulled themselves up. As soon as they got up, both Hiccup and Toothless were widely amazed in surprise as to what they saw. There, where forest used to be was an entire setup of exercised designed for Hiccup. In the middle of the grounds, stood a mighty tall tree with all its branches cleaned off. In one corner, was a halfway tree, with ropes tied around it, making some sort of intricate web. In another corner, were a couple of dummies, set up on a rig system to move around when a rope was pulled. Another corner had small and large boulders with vines on them; this was probably the weight set. There was even some strange sort of hallway with hollowed out trunks that looked like pipe tubes, leading to one lip whistle. There were other training obstacles, but Hiccup's eyes now trained on to the Golden Fleece that landed back on the ground.

"Ah, Hiccup," the Fleece smirked seeing the boy as he strode over to the due, "Glad you finally made it; I thought your training with this Gobber you mentioned before, may have worned you out."

"Ah, I'm not that exhausted," Hiccup stated, though he wasn't successful in ridding himself of his depression. "But… how did you get all this set up in one day?"

"I told you…" the Dragon stated confidently, as he scratched his chest, cleaning his claws in confidence, "I can go without sleep for 2 to 3 weeks. It was simple enough to get all this set up."

Hiccup just sighed as Toothless looked around the place, curious as to much of it at all, "Well… at least you'll get your sleep's worth… probably."

The Golden Fleece took notice of this depressed tone and asked, "Why do you sound upset?"

"Upset?" Hiccup immediately covered up, trying to deny it, "I'm not upset, why-why should I be upset?"

Not fooled one bit, the dragon looked to the boy and asked, "So why are you upset?"

There was a moment of silence between all three of them, until Hiccup sighed sadly as he leaned on one of the trees. "I probably sucked more than anyone today at training, than anyone in the history of Dragon Training," he huffed as he went on, "In the history of Berk. In the history of sucking."

The Golden Fleece shrugged about it, "Probably."

"And the other teens! Man, you've should've seen them; all of them, even Astrid, hate me!"

"Perhaps."

"I'm serious," Hiccup shot back, nearly causing Toothless to back away from the shout. But he and the Fleece looked in concern at the young lad, as he stated, gesturing to all of himself, "How are you gonna turn all this, into a Dragon Fighting Viking, when the whole problem is that I need to stop being all of… _this_."

Both Toothless and the Golden Fleece looked to each other, with a cocked eyebrow, and back to the boy in confusion. Trying to confirm as to what they heard, the Fleece asked as he pointed to the boy, "But you just pointed to all of you."

"Exactly," Hiccup stated as he sighed, crossing his arms, "I'm not like the other teenagers. I'm not as brave, strong, athletic, or dedicated as Astrid is. I'm not as knowledgeable as Fishlegs. I'm not as determined as Syn, not even as durable as Snotlout. Even the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut… okay, they're not the best fighters, but they make up for it by being adrenaline junkies." He took in a deep and heavy sigh as he lightly banged the back of his head by the tree, "I don't know. Maybe this was a huge mistake. Maybe I should just take Astrid's advice… and just go back to being a Blacksmith apprentice."

Toothless seemed to be going depressed himself as he looked to Hiccup. But the Fleece smirked as he stated, "Quit. Don't quit. Blacksmith, no blacksmith." He then leaned forward to talk to Hiccup, face-to-face, "My boy, you are far too concerned with what people think of you, what was, and what will be." He pulled back as he got Hiccup and Toothless's attention, "There's an old saying that I had picked up from a region in China once: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift." he then smirked to the boy as he whispered to both him and Toothless, "That is why it's called 'the present'."

In truth, Hiccup didn't really get it, but for some odd reason, his hope had been rekindled. Toothless took notion to his friend's attitude change, and smiled as well, as Hiccup got up, and looked a bit more happier as he stated confidently, "Alright, Fleece, let's do this."

"Before we begin the training," the Golden Fleece stated, getting Hiccup's attention as he looked to the boy, and to Toothless, "You will recite an oath with me."

"What?" Hiccup stated, not sure if he would where this was gonna go, "Why do I have to… ?"

"It's an important oath that keeps you to the training. It will remind you why you nearly break every bone in your body and tear your muscles just to make both stronger, teach you the secrets and techniques for handling Dragons, and to uphold their true uses, as well as the oath's beliefs," the Golden Fleece stated, and looked to Toothless, "And you're going to recite it with him."

Toothless went wide eyed by this as he growled off what appeared to sound like 'why do I have to? Hiccup's the one that's training' to the Golden Fleece.

"Because you're his dragon, Toothless," the Golden Fleece stated, "So stop whining, both of you, stand side-by-side, and recite this oath with me."

The two looked to each other, and sighed in defeat as the two moved and stood six inches from one another. Then the Golden Fleece walked in front of them and stood ten feet from their position, and looked down upon them seriously as he demanded, "Remember these words spoken to you both. Recite them each night, as if they were a prayer. Take the words to heart… and always live by the beliefs they represent." he then looked to the two as he began, "Let us begin: A Rider and his Dragon are sworn to Valor…"

"A Rider and his Dragon are sworn to Valor," Hiccup spoke out, and Toothless growled with them.

"Their Hearts know only Virtue…" the Fleece recited.

"Their Hearts know only Virtue."

"Their Blade and Claws defend the Helpless," the Fleece continued.

"Their Blade and Claws defend the Helpless."

"Their Strength and Might uphold the Weak," the dragon continued.

"Their Strength and Might uphold the Weak."

"Their Word and Roar speak only Truth," the Golden Fleece pressed on.

"Their Word and Roar speak only Truth."

"Their Wrath and Courage undoes the Wicked and Evil," the Golden Fleece finished.

"Their Wrath and Courage undoes the Wicked and Evil," both Hiccup and Toothless finished.

After hearing that last verse, the Golden Fleece smiled bright as he looked to Hiccup, "Good. Now let's get started."

"Alright, okay. Let's do this," Hiccup told out loud confidently. "So what are you gonna teach me first? How to lasso a Gronkle? Overpower a Nightmare? Or maybe how to outsmart a Zippleback?"

"Nothing like that yet," the Golden Fleece defended as he reached for his chest. Then, as to further amaze the boy and Night Fury, he lifted up the fold, and out fell something that was caught by the dragon's claw. In his hand now, was a tooth, as large as an oversized sword as he looked to Hiccup, "This is the tooth of the Red Death, a dragon that is much more dangerous and powerful than the Monstrous Nightmare. The tooth itself is harder than steel, but only when it's not heated; that's when it becomes pliable." The Golden Fleece then strode over to the tall post, and stuck the tooth directly into the top of the pole, and looked to Hiccup, smirking, "All you have to do… is retrieve the tooth."

Hiccup looked up at the pole, and seemed a bit confident in all this as he walked towards it, "Sure no problem. I've climbed houses, watchtowers, and even trees." he then stopped at the pole as he was about to climb it, "This should be a piece of cake."

"Hold it, Hiccup," the Fleece stated as he picked something up, "You're forgetting something." then the dragon suddenly tied a boulder, about as big as a bowling ball. He lifted Hiccup's arm as he stated, "This represents Discipline and Harmony." he let go of the weight as Hiccup's arm fell to the ground, even as the dragon did it once again to the other, "And this represents Strength and Focus." and once again, dropped the arm, taking Hiccup with him. The Golden Fleece walked away as he then finished, "You need these two polar opposite forces to work together, in order to get the tooth."

The boy was barely able to stand at this point, as he looked at the heavy weights that nearly anchored him down, and looked up at the tree. He stated aloud, "This is impossible! I can't do it."

"There are no cant's in this, Hiccup, there are only solutions," the Golden Fleece answered, waiting for him to make the first move.

Sighing in defeat, knowing there was no way to talk out of this, he hopped to it. He tried to climb it at first, but the weights kept his advance upward from grasping onto the wood, or pushing himself up with his feet. Even when he fell flat on his butt, he continued to try and climb up. But every attempt met with the same result, with him falling on his back or his butt in utter defeat. Finally, after the Golden Fleece had called it quits, Hiccup limped away for a break, as the sun yellow dragon watched the boy in what was ahead of them both.

"We've got a lot to do before I can make a Viking out of you," the Golden Fleece told himself, looking at Hiccup's retreating form.

* * *

**Later On**

The training continued as Hiccup was being pushed to his limits. The Golden Fleece had him tie four heavy rocks on both his wrists and ankles, acting as weights, as well as two others on his back. This would allow him to build the necessary muscle that the dragon thought he needed. If the rocks didn't crush him first. They had been put through everything as the boy went through pushups, sit-ups, etc. the Fleece explained that when he could jump over a simple tied vine that he had placed, then Hiccup would have had the msucle then.

Then, the next exercise was Bola throwing. In this, the Fleece had told Hiccup, who was supposed to hit five moving targets. The Fleece had told him the trick was to have his wrist move the bolas in the swing, not let the arm do the work. Hiccup had managed to get it right… except for his aim when he threw them at Toothless by mistake instead of the dummies.

And then there were other obstacles that came later. One was fire dodging, in which both the Fleece and Toothless shot at Hiccup, who was doing his best, though got hit in the butt more times than he cared to count. The next was shield use, in which they bombarded him with shots, while he used his shield to protect him. Lately, he felt more like a test dummy than doing actual training.

The whole training itself, in Hiccup's perception, was far worse than the way Gobber taught him or the other teens.

**Later That Night**

* * *

Hiccup knelt near a still dead fire, using his gauntlet blade as a which for the flint stone he scrapped it on. The boy looked halfway exhausted at this point, not even so much as able to focus on the fire. Even Toothless seemed to take pity on the poor boy's condition, even as he nibbled on the fish head that the boy had given him. The Golden Fleece had been watching the boy for some time, about fifteen minutes for the fire t go on. So far, nothing had been finished.

The Golden Fleece sighed as he pointed out, "I think I saw a spark."

Hiccup looked hopeful as he looked to the fire. So far… no sparks. The young Viking sighed as he looked at the dragon and dryly replied, "Very funny."

The Fleece chuckled, but then stated, "You know, we could, ah…" he pointed at the fireplace, getting Hiccup's attention, "We really could, you know."

But the boy went back to his work, silently denying the offer. However, Toothless was getting pretty hungry right now, and wanted to try this new smoked fish meal. so, taking a deep breath, the Night Fury fired a shot at the flames. It nearly erupted, causing Hiccup to jump up. He brushed himself off to make sure he wasn't on fire, and sighed, looking at both Toothless and the Golden Fleece, extremely irked at not being warned.

"Sorry, Hiccup," The Fleece chuckled as he pointed out, "Well... at least it'll be well-done."

Later on, after their dinner, the three were merely sitting down, taking the time to relax. Toothless was lying on his burnt ground bed, enjoying the made warmth it created. The Golden Fleece was merely watching the sky as the stars were finally shining out brightly. Hiccup, on the other hand, was working on what appeared to be a lanyard-based whip of sorts. So far, he had tied and stitched the leather construct very well, almost making it look like an art of sorts. But the shape of it, was definitely an eel.

But all a while, Hiccup had one thing on his mind as he looked to the newest dragon. It… no, He had trusted the boy pretty well enough to train him. But for some reason, he felt the dragon resented being near a human at all. So stopping his work and turning away, he sighed as he spoke aloud, "You must've hated our kind pretty well, Fleece."

"Hmm?" the Fleece stated, knowing full well what Hiccup was insinuating. He did after all, brag about having a collection of corpses in his cavern. The dragon shuffled his tail as he sighed, "No. no, not really. I only hated one of your kind. Those kills were all in self-defense, but times chance, I always pictured the face of the one human I hated." He looked to Hiccup, as if asking if it was his Great-Grandfather, but the dragon shook his head reassuringly, "Don't worry. It's not your great-grandfather I hated."

"Really?" Hiccup asked, now a bit more curious on the subject, "So then… who was he like? This human you hate."

The Golden Fleece was silent, almost not wanting to answer that question, as if bringing back painful memories would bubble up. Then finally, the dragon sighed heavily, as he answered, "He had a broken heart when I first met him. But it eventually oozed from the wounds, hatred and malice. Despite all the training I had given him."

Hiccup absorbed all that, until his head shot up with a surprised look of confused shock on his face appeared. "Training?" he then stood up as he interrogated an answer, "Is there something you're not telling me?"

The dragon sighed, knowing full well he had let the cat out of the bag. "Well…." the Dragon stated as he scratched the back of his head, and sighed, "Well, you weren't exactly the first one that I trained this way. To all dragons, this boy would have been their hope, but instead became their doom." he then huffed as his anger was starting to rise up, "He was nothing more than a spoiled, ungrateful child, that was given a great gift of knowledge. And he ended up corrupting it!" He sighed, his anger becoming less now, "I taught him the Code, just as I taught it to you through that oath. I taught him the ways of honor, and right." he then sighed heavily, as the weight of it all now took its toll on him, "And then he betrayed his own kind and the dragons. Just as he betrayed the very dragon who raised him… and whose dream and heart he broke."

Hiccup felt a bit guilty at this point, and sighed in depression, "Sorry about all that, Fleece."

"STOP! CALLING ME! FLEECE!" the Golden Fleece roared out annoyingly at Hiccup, causing him to flinch as he continued, "I have a name!"

"Well, what is it?"

"Ha. It's only spoken in Dragonese: the language of the dragons," the Golden Fleece scoffed. "I doubt you'd be able to pronounce it in your tongue."

Hiccup crossed his arms, as Toothless watched all this, "Try me."

"Well, it's…" the Fleece stated, but then stopped as his face twisted in pain at this point.

The dragon fell over, clutching the left side of his neck/shoulder, three red marks revealing themselves. Hiccup saw this as he bolted up, in worry of the Golden Fleece, as his face twisted in a pained agony, "Toothless!" the Night Fury turned to him as he ordered, "Keep an eye on him; I'll be right back!"

The Night Fury did as he was told, as Hiccup ran to the lake as fast as he could. He took off his vest as he dunked it in the water, making sure it was soaked as much as possible. Then, as soon as he felt it was ready, he sped over back to the Fleece, who was now lying on his stomach. Toothless looked to the boy and backed away to make room for him. Hiccup then draped the soaked vest onto the claw marked wound. When it made contact, the wound started to sizzle as the heat began to die down from the wound; the red glow disappeared but the scars on the shoulder remained.

The Fleece sighed in relief as he looked to the boy, "Thank you. It'll pass now."

Looking concerned for him, Hiccup asked as he looked at the scar, "What is this?"

The Fleeced sighed as he answered, the fatigue in his voice evident that the injury took a lot out of him, "An old reminder of that human. It reminds me of what happened that day, and what went wrong. It only acts up whenever I think of him, now and again."

The young Viking couldn't hepl but feel responsible for allowing this to seep up. Maybe if he had kept his mouth shut, the scar wouldn't have done such agony on to the dragon. Looking down at his feet shamefully, eve as Toothless looked to the lad, Hiccup apologized, "I'm sorry, if… if by drudging up your past caused this."

The Dragon lightly shook his head as he defended, "Don't be that way, boy. It wasn't you."

The Dragon finally sighed, as he relaxed his massive body, and fell into slumber, with not a care in the world. Both Hiccup and Toothless looked to each other and silently agreed with one another, as Hiccup grabbed an extra blanket. Toothless walked over to the Golden Fleece, curled up like a cat would, but let Hiccup sit in the center, allowing the boy a comfortable place to sit/sleep at, while he and the Night Fury watched over their large mentor.

* * *

**Much Later that Night**

The Golden Fleece finally stirred awake, albeit a bit groggy, but now fully awake and recovered. He looked around, and spotted both Hiccup and Toothless, sitting right beside him. Though Toothless was wide awake, it was Hiccup that was asleep, leaning on the Night Fury's side. The Older Dragon just smirked in wonder, knowing full well that this boy didn't leave either dragons' side.

He then took notice that Hiccup was starting to wake up, and spoke to him, "Evening, Hiccup."

Turning to his direction, he and Toothless saw the Golden Fleece wide awake. Hiccup shot up as he smiled in relief, "Hey! You're awake."

"Hmmm, yes," the Golden Fleece stated as he sighed, "Have you been awake all night, just keeping an eye on me?"

Hiccup nodded, and looked to Toothless, who nodded as well, as both turned their direction to the larger and older dragon. "Well… we've also been thinking," Hiccup confessed.

"About what?"

"Well, lots of things," Hiccup answered as he walked to the Dragon's head, "Well, mostly on what to call you." He then looked to Toothless as the dragon motioned for Hiccup to go for it, and the young Viking looked to the dragon and answered, "I think we found you a name."

The Golden Fleece chuckled at this lightly as he replied, "You say it as though you've reached for it, and plucked it from the heavens."

Hiccup let out half a smirk as he turned towards Toothless, "Well, actually… he did. I just read up about it." he and Toothless then turned up towards the night sky, and pointed to the stars, "Up there. Do you see that group of stars up there?"

The Golden Fleece turned his gaze up there, and saw it in the sky. A group of stars that lit up brighter than the others, taking the shape of something that would only be seen in a portrait. A constellation that only the Golden Fleece knew of, as did Toothless, as both dragons looked with the boy on it.

The Golden Fleece smiled warmly as he nodded, "Oh yes. I know those stars all too well. Every dragon knows of them."

"Do you see the shape they make?" Hiccup asked.

The Fleece nodded, "Yes, Hiccup. Indeed I do know what shape they're in: a dragon."

"Yeah," the boy replied as he turned to the larger dragon. "In the scholar's books in the Library, the constellation is called Draconis, or Draco for short. It means 'Dragon', in the scholar's speech. It's also the name of the Dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece that Jason and the Argonauts were after. They say that when that dragon fought and died a glorious death, the gods placed his soul in those stars to watch over all the dragons on the earth."

The Golden Fleece, or Draco as Hiccup was applying the name now, merely chuckled and smirked at the boy, "So, instead of calling me Dragon in your tongue, you'll call me Dragon in another."

Hiccup sighed in defeat as he hung his head down, and sadly smirked at the Dragon, "Yeah, you're right. It was silly and stupid for me to think so."

"No," Draco defended as he brought the boy's and Toothless's attention back to him, "No, I would be honored to be named after those stars. I-I truly would." he smiled warmly at the Viking boy and the Night Fury as he finished, "Thank you, Hiccup. Toothless. Thank you both."

The three smiled to one another, now giving a name to their newest friend the boy and Night Fury joined Draco as they all looked to the stars.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Taking Flight Once Again; A New Dragon Fighter's in Town**

* * *

**This last part in the chapter always gets me deep in the heart. The Song, Look To the Stars, always gets me to tears.**


	7. A New Dragon Slayer In Town

**How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 7:Taking Flight Once Again; A New Dragon Fighter's in Town**

* * *

**Four Days Later**

**Dragon Training Coliseum**

* * *

Two days had passed, and today was another one of their training exercises, made by their 'Learning on the Job' teacher, Gobber. He seemed tickled as ever to beginning this training exercise, even though he wasn't known for best teenager-handling skills. The students, those who had shown up, were all holding buckets of water. This in on its own was a most unusual form of weapon being used in the training session. And it would have started at this moment, if one student was there.

Gobber looked around, scratching the back of his head while his mace hand was thudding his hip. "It's been nearly five days now. More time than usual for an absentee." He thought aloud as he tried to figure out where that one student was, "Now where on earth is…?"

"I'm here! Sorry. I've been busy; y'know. School and work just doesn't mix anymore." Hiccup called out, running into the ring.

At least, they thought it was Hiccup, if anyone didn't recognize his voice and dry humor. Truth of the matter was that he had been gone for about four days tops. As such, Gobber had to hold the lesson back until Hiccup had shown up. But now, their seasoned warrior was trying to figure out if this really was Hiccup who had shown up.

The truth was, he wasn't as scrawny as he was anymore; no longer even identified as a human toothpick. Showing off on his rolled up sleeves to his elbows, slender muscles flexed all over his body. It wasn't like his father's frame or Snotlout's, but more of a Spider-Man frame of build. This was made evident as it was certainly a far cry from his former stick-like frame. Aside from also the physical change, he also had a few weapons on him. On his left wrist, was a black wrist band, which looked to be made of dragon scales, a rolled up whip of sorts, and a bola with cloth for the rope. In overall appearance, it was a new Hiccup in some ways.

"Ah, well, um…" Gobber stated, raising an eyebrow at this sudden change in his friend's son after four days. But easily brushed it aside as the lesson was about to begin. "Since you got here a bit late, and that we're one teammate, you'll be paired up with Fishlegs and Syn for today's lesson," he then pointed to one of the buckets, "Take a bucket of water, and join up with them, alright?"

"Yeah, no problem," Hiccup replied as he jogged over to the last bucket and picked it up.

Making sure not to spill any of the contents, he ran over to Fishlegs and Syn, who were just as stunned as Astrid and the others. When he got over to the two teens, he stood his ground, keeping at the alert. But he couldn't help but notice the stares of everyone around him, especially of the other two behind him.

Finally, he sighed as he looked around and asked Syn and Fishlegs, "What?"

"What exactly did you do to yourself?" was all that Syn asked, cocking an eyebrow and her mouth agape for a moment, as she tried to take this change in. "The last five days you've been missing, you suddenly come back, looking a little more… well, you know," she stated as she pointed at his new physical frame.

"Yeah, it's like you suddenly reached enough levels to go from meek to Ultra," Fishlegs stated, his RPG lingo once again being his usual way to interpret his thoughts to the others.

Not wishing to tell them the whole truth, Hiccup sighed as he shrugged, "Well, I've um… been doing some extra training. I mean, you guys've been probably doing some similar stuff too, right?"

"Well, yeah," Syn pointed out, "But we never did anything that make us grow extra muscle like that in at least five days."

"Alright, enough chitchat," Gobber pointed out as he pulled on a string connected to one of the cage levers.

Suddenly, the doors opened, but expecting the usual dragon bursting through the doors, or fire being spewed out, something else bellowed out from the cage. From out of the cage, dark gray smoke waved over the ground, going as fast as to nearly blot out all light. The smoke nearly encompassed the whole coliseum grounds, but not before Gobber, who was striding to the side casually, gave them some last minute advice.

"Today, you will learn Teamwork," Gobber advised as he strode out of the way. "Today's dragon is the Hideous Zippleback. Unlike all the other dragons, this fellah doesn't spew fire, but rather creates explosions, and is extra tricky to boot. It's also the only dragon to have two heads; one head spews out a combustible gas, and the other ignites it." as Gobber strode over to the safe lines, Unfer, who had been gone as well for some time, was watching this session as well with interest, as Gobber continued, "The trick in this exercise is to find the head that ignites the smoke and douse it. A wet dragon's head can't produce either flame or sparks if it's wet."

As all the teen teams, Hiccup, who was still teamed up with Fishlegs and Syn, his head was remembering the training that Draco had put him through.

* * *

**Three days ago**

* * *

_Hiccup was doing pushups with the large rocks tied at his wrists and ankles, while Toothless rested his head on his back. As he did the pushups, he did them with his shirt off, and under a small bed of smoking red rocks, that Toothless had kept lit. At this time, the muscles on Hiccup's exposed arms and chest, were beginning to develop at a fast pace. As Hiccup sweated and breathed with groans going through his teeth, Draco was sitting about ten feet from the boy, as he quizzed the boy._

"_Alright, Hiccup," Draco started, acting like they were having a quiz, "Let's begin: A Zippleback's means of attack. Is it fire?"_

_Groaning through his mouth, Hiccup answered, "No… it creates explosions… using a type of combustible… gas."_

"_Correct," Draco answered as eh smirked, "But how does it do this?"_

"_Well…" Hiccup strained, trying to make sure he didn't get a burnt belly. "It does it… by its head…. One Head spews out the gas… the other ignites it."_

"_Excellent," Draco nodded, "But which head creates the spark?"_

"_Um…" Hiccup thought, not sure of the answer, "Either head could do it… depending on the dragon's birth."_

"_Nope," Draco shook his head as he pointed out, "For the Zippleback, every one born under different rookery eggs, the left head from all of them each create the spark."_

"_And… and the only way to stop them… is to douse the head… that makes the spark?" Hiccup asked, the strain starting to get to him. But Toothless spotted this, and using his tail, smacked Hiccup lightly in the rear, getting the boy back in place and with enough energy back to boot._

"_That's one way to do it," Draco explained. "However… the teeth and the beak on the left head are an organic form of flint. Even if the head was wet, it could still create a spark by scratching its teeth or the outside of the mouth." _

"_So…" Hiccup replied, as he did the last pushup. Then Toothless got off him, and pulled him up with his tail, as Hiccup balanced himself on his feet, and finished, "… so it's not enough just to douse the spark head, you gotta make sure that the mouth and teeth can't scratch a hard surface to make another spark."_

* * *

**Back in Present Time**

"First it'll bite us with its fangs. Each containing a syringe of toxic venom for pre-digestion," Fishlegs muttered, breaking Hiccup out of his train of thought. But Hiccup then took notice of Syn, who was slightly freaked out, but not by Fishlegs's facts. It was something else, as her grip on the bucket she held tightened, and her eye was full of fright. But that went ignored for now, as Fishlegs continued, "Then, it'll use the other head to wrap is in a crushing…."

"Fishlegs!" Hiccup silently shushed the other Viking, in a calm tone, "I appreciate the facts you're giving out, but Syn's freaking out here." and then with a hushed but angered tone, Hiccup finished, "WILL YOU PLEASE STOP IT!"

Elsewhere in the mist, Snotlout and Tuffnut were keeping an eye out for the dragon as well. Their buckets were at the ready, as they stood back to back, cautiously keeping an eye out for the Zippleback. However, as usual, Snotlout was boasting out.

"If that dragon shows either of its faces, I'm gonna…" but stopped himself as he took notice of a shadow from the smoke, illuminated by the light. Both boys stopped as they saw the figure's silhouette in the smoke. They couldn't make it out, but saw horns, and assumed it to be a dragon. "There!"

The two threw their buckets out, shooting the water right at the shadows. "Hey!" a familiar female voice spoke out as the smoke cleared from that point. It was Ruffnut, who was a little soaked, and Astrid, who was dry as a bone. Tuffnut's sister huffed, "It's us, you idiots."

The two boys looked to each other, trying to come up with an excuse. But Tuffnut made the first dumb one as he chuckled, "Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were the dragon."

But Snotlout shrugged, trying to make it into a compliment for Astrid, "Not that there's… anything wrong with having a dragon-esque figure, though."

However, at the end of that sentence, both Snotlout and Tuffnut were about to get it from their little excuses. Astrid walked up to Snotlout… and delivered a hard right uppercut to the jaw to the teen Viking, sending him to the ground. Ruffnut threw her bucket right at her brother, knocking him back on his butt. As Tuffnut was getting back up, something snagged him on the pants, and pulled him screaming into the fog. The only thing that came out of the fog, was his helmet, as the screaming and yelling continued.

Ruffnut was about to run in to get her brother, but Astrid grabbed her, "Don't, wait!"

Then suddenly, the two girls were pushed back on their butts, as Tuffnut was thrown at them from the fog. The boy was unharmed, but he was pretty freaked out as he ran out of there, passing Fishlegs, Syn, and Hiccup, yelling, "AAAAAH! I'm hurt! I'm very much hurt! AAAAAH!"

Fishlegs shrunk behind his bucket as he nervously squeaked from his throat, "Chances of survival are dwindling into single-digits now…"

Then, snaking its way out of the dissipating smoke, the dragon's heads were showing themselves, including the rest of the dragons. The dragon was light green in its scale color, with a light green underbelly, going from tail to jaw. The dragon's limbs were small, but strong enough to go fast, and support the triangle-shaped frame, with the front of the triangle body, and the top as the end. On the end, was a tail that split in two at the middle, and traveling down the tails and up to the heads were red like spines that seem to look like zipper teeth. Its wings were folded onto its sides, with only one wing bone, leaving a bat wing shape design on the single membrane wing. Its heads were bulbous, attached to thin but strong long necks to its body. Two large sharp teeth stuck out from the sides of the mouth as small sharp teeth stuck out from the bottom. They had yellow cat eyes with black slits, a yellow horn on top of their nose that pointed back, and two straight black horns shooting out of the back. This, was the Hideous Zippleback, the only dragon that had two heads and that created explosions. A very tricky dragon, considering that no one knew which head did which, until it was too late.

The two heads slithered side by side, like snakes as it sized up on the three Vikings who it spotted out. The first target they spotted was the large and shook up Viking boy, as one head slunked slow then fast. Fishlegs easily jumped back, as the head that lingered at him began to pull back in a cobra-like fashion. Seeing this as his chance, Fishlegs threw the water at the dragon's head, easily soaking it. Fishlegs smirked at the task finished, but nervously frowned, as he saw the head didn't create a spark, but spewed out the green combustible gas.

He chuckled nervously as he silently pointed out, "Oh, heh… wrong head." And then ran off, screaming at the top of his lungs, leaving his two teammates behind.

Hiccup sighed in exasperation, "Some help he is."

However, his attention, as was Syn's, were turned toward the heads as they snapped at them. Hiccup jumped back, as did Syn, even though a squeaked scream came escaping from her throat. Hiccup saw this behavior in his remaining teammate, and suddenly remembered why she was acting like this. However, that was put aside from the moment, as Hiccup spotted the head that he was aiming for. Almost taunting the two, the left head started to produce sparks from its mouth every time it quickly snapped its mouth, almost threatening the two.

"Now, Hiccup!" urged Gobber, who was watching the fight.

Not waiting for the last second, Hiccup ran up only a few feet of the Dragon as it backed away for a second. With a good swing of his bucket, Hiccup threw the water right at the left head. Unfortunately, for the boy, the left head took heed of this, and in a split second, it shifted out of the way of the water's path, allowing the contents to splash on the ground behind it. The two heads looked at the water, and then back at the boy, almost silently snickering at the boy's feeble attempt.

"Oh, come on," Hiccup groaned in defeat as his shoulders slumped.

The ZippleBack shot towards Hiccup, in an attempt to attack, as the boy was moving back from it. However, Hiccup was not the intended target, as the right head whipped to the left, and flung the boy aside, going right past him. As Gobber ran over to help Hiccup, the lad started to get back up, only to see the Zippleback's intended target. It was charging right at Syn.

Unfer saw this display in the dragon's changed target, and silently cursed, "You stupid lizard. I told you and your friends to go after the boy."

Syn slowly backed away, as the Zippleback approached her; its maws snarling and hissing like a snake at her. At first, anyone who saw the girl would immediately take action, and throw either a bomb or the bucket of water at the sparking head. But instead, she did something no one else would have thought she would do. Slowly, the bucket slipped out of her hand, as the ZippleBack slowly approached her. Then, she screamed out lout in terror for everyone to hear, including Hiccup as he looked at the female Viking teenager; fear and terror only showing on her face at this point.

Immediately, Hiccup bolted up to his feet before Gobber got to him. He rushed towards the scene, even as Gobber shouted, "HICCUP, NO!"

However, his cry went unheard, as Hiccup sped towards the Zippleback. As he did this, he brought out the bola he had on his belt, and began to spin it around with only his wrist doing the spinning.

The Zippleback had cornered Syn into the wall, not allowing her to escape at all. She tried to run on one side, but the head on the right stopped her, by spraying the gas out, nearly encompassing her. She tried to run on the left, but as it happened, the Zippleback's left head got in front of her, startling her by taunting in making a spark to ignite the gas. The Zippleback continued to taunt her, as she curled up into a ball on the ground, closing her eye as she nearly whimpered for the ZippleBack to go away. And the Zippleback was about to do so, by igniting the gas…

"Hey, you!" Hiccup shouted out, as he skidded to a stop.

The Zippleback's heads turned to face the right, just to see the boy that it swatted away. Hiccup's skid came to a halt as he threw the bolas right at the beast. It started in slow motion as the bolas were closing in on the beast's left head. The bolas spun in the fashion they were thrown in, but as they spun, the ropes that held the rocks together began to unravel into soaked cloths. Then time returned to normal, as the bolas suddenly wrapped around the left head's mouth, closing it tightly as the creature regained a bit composure.

It got back on its feet, only to realize that its left head's jaw was completely encompassed in what appeared to be wet leather or something. It tried to shake its head loose of the bands, but no avail. Hiccup saw that it worked, and hopped onto the back, jumping past the two heads that tried to get the bolas off. The young Viking then ran over to his frightened friend, leading her out of the smoke mist.

As the two were cleared, Hiccup helped Syn down to the ground, as she knelt down, coughing out all the smoke. "You okay, Syn?" Hiccup asked in concern for her. "It didn't spook you too bad, did it?"

"No," Syn coughed out, getting the last of the smoke out of her lungs. "Not as much as before," she then weakly looked to her savior, a little surprised to see him like this, "Though, I gotta admit. Seein' you come to my rescue like that… " the then let a weak smile spread across her face as she looked at him, "It's a pretty rare thing to see."

However, their happy moment was gone, as they heard the ZippleBack roar at them both, but particularly at Hiccup. The boy stood back on to his feet, as the Zippleback's wings spread out, with it charging right at the boy. He immediately charged right at it, with Syn and Gobber shouting at the boy to stop. However, before the Zippleback could get to him, he immediately skidded down to the ground, sliding underneath its underbelly, and coming around from behind. Before the Zippleback could turn around for another attack, Hiccup looked over his shoulder, and spotted the open cage door, confirming where and what he needed to do next. Immediately the Zippleback turned around, and hissed at Hiccup, but only to have the boy run up its back and come in between its heads again. The ZippleBack saw this and both the heads tried to snatch at him, but he was too quick as they conked themselves in each other's heads.

As soon as he was off the dragon, he landed back on one foot, knelt down on the ground. With the time needed, he reached for the rolled up whip like weapon, and pulled it out. The Zippleback looked to the boy, and immediately, it was no more fooling around, as it hissed out and charged at him with only its free head.

Syn saw this as she nearly screamed out, "Hiccup, no!"

Astrid saw this, and sighed to herself, "Great, now I gotta save him _again_!" and was about to sprint towards Hiccup and the Zippleback, armed with only a bucket.

"Hiccup!" Gobber cried out as he ran towards them.

However, Hiccup beat them all to it, as he unrolled the whip, with a quick flick outward. It revealed itself to be an eel shaped whip, and was made evident, as Hiccup whipped the ground in front of the ZippleBack. Seeing the weapon's movement, the dragon halted, and slowly backed away, yipping and shrieking in fear. At this moment, Gobber and Astrid stopped their attempt to save the boy, and only stood by as they witnessed him force the Zippleback back into its cage.

"Back!" Hiccup ordered as he whipped the ground, making the whip move in the manner of an eel would. "Get back! Go on, get back in your cage! Now don't you make me tell you again! Back!"

The Zippleback was freaking out with every movement from the whip. The creature was backing away from the whip, going slowly, and backing away into the cage. Gobber was completely stumped by this revelation, as were the teen Vikings. But none of the teens could have been more shocked than Astrid, as she helped an also stunned Syn back to her feet. The prodigy Dragon slayer couldn't believe that this guy was the same Hiccup from four days ago. But none wasn't as stunned at this scene, than Unfer, who stood by the village elder, an old druid-like Viking woman, who studied Hiccup's method of pushing the dragon back into its cage.

As soon as the Zippleback was in there, Hiccup gave the dragon a hairy eyebrow as he warned it, "Now think about what you did today." The Zippleback hissed at the boy, but Hiccup made one whiplash at the ground again, and this time the Zippleback huddled in the corner, fear filling up in its catlike eyes.

Hiccup closed the doors to the cage, and locked it back up, sighing in relief. He then looked at the whip, and smirked, "Glad to know this worked."

He then wrapped it back up as he set it back to his belt. He then turned around, and his smirk disappeared with a look of clueless confusion. Not after he had closed the doors, did he suddenly see the gazes of Gobber and the other teen Vikings, gawking at what they had seen. The only audible sound that was made was the sound of the bucket slipping from Fishlegs's grip. Sensing the uneasy stares on him, Hiccup decided to hightail it before too many questions had entered in the arena, and he would have to answer them.

"Okay, um…" Hiccup started, as he shuffled himself away from the door, and to the gate exit. "Well, if that's it for the day… I'll see you guys later, okay?" And with that, he bolted right out of the stadium.

Unfer's surprised gaze at the boy never left the boy, as he ran out of the stadium and disappeared from his sight. A scowled look appeared on his face as he stepped back, thinking, 'This… changes everything entirely.'

Back in the ring, the Viking teens were still in disbelief that Hiccup, the worst Viking in Berk, had done the unthinkable. He had defeated a dragon single-handedly and pushed it back into its cage. On top of that, he had thrown a bola right at it, as well as outmaneuvered the beast. Even Astrid was in disbelief, looking back at the closed cage doors, and back at the exit in which Hiccup had left in.

The girl's eyes were filled with confusion at this moment… but also unknown to herself… admiration that he had actually proved not to be a liability. But still, her suspicion on this matter was a bit unusual… even if it was Hiccup.

* * *

**Later On That Day**

**Back in Toothless's Canyon**

* * *

Hiccup arrived at the canyon, with something strapped to his back. As he got into the canyon, he saw Toothless at the river, resting at the side, watching the fish swim around. The young Viking thought that he was gonna try and catch some lunch or breakfast today. He looked around, trying to see where Draco was at this moment, but was nowhere to be seen at this time. He thought that maybe the dragon was at the training grounds, but that thought was quickly excused as he saw the canyon all around them darken from a shadow above them.

He looked up and saw Draco coming down for a landing, as he smirked, "Draco! Where you've been? You should've seen the lesson we had today."

Draco perched down to the ground, with Toothless getting up and excited to see the Golden Fleece. Draco smirked at Hiccup as he nodded, "I know, I was there. Hiding in sight from the others."

"How did you…?" Hiccup began to ask, uncertain on how the larger dragon went unnoticed. But he shook his head as he sat down next to Toothless, putting the leather sack aside, "Ah, never mind. The point is, I actually did something without screwing up." The smile on the boy's face couldn't have been brighter as he sighed with much pride as he looked at Toothless, the dragon actually happy for the boy, "I mean, not only did I throw a bola without getting it tangled up, but I was able to outmaneuver the Zippleback."

Draco chuckled at this and the boy's enthusiasm, "That's good to know." But his face then became that of curiosity, as he asked, "But ah… tell me. This Syn girl in the arena today… where did this phobia over the Zippleback come from?"

Hiccup's cheery nature suddenly left him, as Toothless took notice of this from the boy's face and eyes. The Night Fury nudged his human friend on the side, gaining the boy's attention, as he sighed, and looked to both him and Draco. He then sighed once again as he started the story, "It started when she and I were eight years old. Back then she had her right eye, longer hair, and she didn't have all those scars on her body. Even back then… she…" Hiccup had to suppress a sad chuckle from his throat as he finished, "… she was sort of a sister/friend to me back then."

Draco cocked an eyebrow as he quizzing asked, "I thought you said you didn't have any human friends?"

"Well, this was after the incident that I lost all my friends," Hiccup explained the best he could. "The day on that day started out as always; a raid with the dragons going after our food, sheep and livestock. And even back then, I was running around the battlefield, wanting to help out with the fight to make my mark as a Viking. The Vikings also shooed me to get back inside, as always." His face then turned serious as he went on, "But I didn't that day… cause of that scream coming from Syn's house. Ignoring the others' yelling me to go back inside, I bolted right for her home."

"That's when I spotted it, slunking around her house like a snake," Hiccup's voice dripped with seriousness, almost picturing it all into his head. "The Zippleback. It… I don't know how, but it trapped her inside the house while her parents were out, fighting the other dragons. I was the only one who heard her screaming, so I rushed in before the Zippleback took notice. The house was already filled with the gas before hand. Luckily, I found Syn trying to find her way out of there. Unfortunately, we ended up going through the front door… where the left head that sparks popped up. And…"

"And then it ignited the gas," Draco finished, knowing it wasn't easy for the boy to say much more. He then looked to Hiccup as he asked, "What happened then?"

Hiccup sighed as he finished, "My father and the others found us buried in the rubble. I didn't get hurt much, but Syn took the worst of it. She lost her right eye and took on extensive scars on her arms and chest, as well as the right side of her face. Her parents thought I was the one that led the dragon to their house, thinking I was the one that caused their daughter's disfigurement. So they made sure I could never see or talk to her again." Hiccup then pulled up his right sleeve, to show a burn mark on his shoulder, that looked like a claw mark, "You can just tell from both of us that explosion wasn't pleasant."

Draco and Toothless looked at the scar carefully, and looked to the boy in deep respect. In trying to save his friend, he had to lose them as well. Toothless walked over to his human friend and nuzzled him on the cheek, sympathetically. But then everything went back to normal as Hiccup got up and looked to the Night Fury. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot," he stated as a smile appeared on his face, and lifted the leather case. It then unfolded to reveal itself as a four strap and two seated saddle, "This is for you, Toothless. A saddle I can sit on while I'm helping you steer your tail fin."

Immediately, the Night Fury hunched over like a cat, looking wryly at the saddle. He then bolted out of there before Hiccup could even put it on. That afternoon, Toothless was running from Hiccup, making sure the saddle didn't come on. Draco was having the time of his life, laughing aloud as he watched this scene go on, postponing the training for the day.

* * *

**The Days To Come**

* * *

After a lot of struggling and running, Hiccup had managed to get the saddle on to Toothless's back. At first the Night Fury was reluctant, but later on he came to reason to allow Hiccup to ride on him. Along in their effort to try and fly, Draco decided to have this put into Hiccup's schedule as part of the training. However, there were a few glitches for the attempts, such as Hiccup always falling off the saddle whenever he couldn't pull the tail in the right steering lane. So he had that solved by fashioning himself a belt with a hook on cable to the saddle. This would allow him to stay on Toothless while they tried to fly.

That was put to the test, as Draco was leading them in the air. He decided to help out with the flying, but from Hiccup's point of view, he saw this as the dragon's attempt at training some more. Right now, they were following the Golden Fleece halfway off the ground, while trying to keep it easy. Hiccup was able to unsteadily steer Toothless by manipulating the movements of the artificial tail fin as best he could. He did so by tying a rope from the fin to his left ankle that stretched along the dragon's tail. So far, it was working… but as fate would have it… the idea didn't pan out well enough.

For at that moment, they crashed into a field of long grass, somewhere hidden in the forest. When Draco saw this, he immediately turned around, and landed. He then saw Hiccup trying to right himself, as he wobbled out of the grass.

Draco smirked as he asked out of humor, "Rough landing?"

"Don't ask," Hiccup muttered, groggily steadying himself physically and mentally. But then he stopped as he didn't see Toothless with him at all. "Toothless?" he called out, looking around to find his dragon, "Toothless! Toothless, where are you, boy?"

It was before the boy worried a bit more, that he and Draco heard it. Rustling from behind the boy as he raced back through the grass, and was puzzled by what he saw. Cocking an eyebrow and his shoulders slumped over, Hiccup saw what had made him and Draco look in bafflement. Toothless was rolling around in a circle in the grass, almost intoxicated by the grass all around him. To this scene, he looked like a cat on too much catnip.

Hiccup pulled out a few strands of grass, as he knelt down and examined it, and asked to himself, "Garlic Grass?"

"It's like catnip to all dragons," Draco mentioned, while keeping his distance away from the grass. When Hiccup gave him his full attention, he explained, "There are all sorts of plants and minerals that can change a dragon's mood. Which is your lesson for today: Relaxants and Aggression-inducing agents."

* * *

**Dragon Training**

**Day 37**

* * *

Hiccup stood ready in the arena, with his arm gauntlet to Shield mode. But this time, while Snotlout and Tuffnut were being decked and rammed by the Gronkle, Hiccup had a new weapon at his disposal. In his Blacksmith pouch, tiny glass bobbles, encased in copper skeletal cases, were in there, and filled with a gaseous liquid of extract of Garlic Grass.

The Gronkle then turned its attention to him, as it charged at the boy with incredible speed despite its bulky size and small wings. As soon as it was close enough, Hiccup hopped up, jumping on the beast's nose, and grasping onto the horn. The Gronkle shook him off, or tried to as Hiccup wasn't letting go on this. Astrid saw this and was charging right at them, with her battle ax at the ready as she cried out her warrior's cry.

Hiccup saw this, and not wasting any time, pulled out one of the gas bombs he made. Looking at the Gronkle head on, he smashed the bobble flask on the beast's nose. Immediately the shattered bomb sprayed out a thick green mist that almost covered the beast's nose, and it was enough for the Gronkle to take a whiff. The dragon soon then skidded on the ground, allowing Hiccup to hop off, as the beast's face then contorted into an intoxicated smirk. Its eyes suddenly became big as puppy dog's, and glazed over as its tail began to wag in a fast paste. Then with a satisfied growl, it shifted to its left side, and seemingly pass out with its tongue sticking out of his gnaw.

Astrid stopped in her tracks, seeing this with disbelief at this moment, as were the other teen Vikings. Some of the adults that stayed behind were also watching this from outside the dome, including the Elder, and a much deep in thought Unfer.

After training, Hiccup was making his way down the bridge, about to make his way back to the forest. However, he was soon caught up by the other teens, as they swarmed upon him, asking how he did such a thing, or what was in the glass flasks that would cause a Gronkle to go down like that. Even Ruffnut seemed to want to talk to Hiccup more; seemingly enough that the female twin was gaining a huge crush on him.

However, he wasn't about to divulge such a secret, as he slipped past them. "Ah, sorry, I um…" he stated as he walked away from the others, "I left my ax back in the ring. I'll, uh… I'll catch up with you later." suddenly, not watching where he went, he bumped into Astrid, causing him to turn around to apologize, "Sorry about that." And bolted right out of there.

The other teens looked at his retreating form with both confusion and awe at the sight of the newest Dragon Slayer in Berk. However, Astrid's face showed with much suspicion, and growing jealousy, at the retreating Hiccup. She blew her left bangs aside, as she glared in suspicion of him, as to how he was becoming better at this so fast.

* * *

**Dragon Training**

**Day 42**

* * *

The duo were once again training together under the guidance of the larger and older dragon. Though the training, like before, was very strange as the first few lessons. In this exercise, Draco had Hiccup scratch the back and sides of Toothless's neck, in which the Night Fury was enjoying deeply. This was made evident with Toothless letting out a low growling purr from his throat. The dragon even arched his back, feeling much comfort in the young Viking's act upon the back of his neck.

"Okay, I don't get it," Hiccup stated, feeling a bit confused as he looked to Draco, "How is this part of fighting a dragon?"

Draco then pointed to his lower left side of his neck, and smirked, "Scratch this spot, and you'll see."

Hiccup cocked an eyebrow in confusion, but shrugged, "Alright, but I still don't see…" and did as he was told. But when he scratched there, Toothless's eyes went wide as he made a surprised yelp… and plopped to the ground, seemingly dead. "Oh Gods, I killed him," Hiccup gasped in horror, but looked closely, and saw that Toothless had just been rendered unconscious, as he sighed in relief, "Oh. He's asleep."

"He'll be out of it for about ten minutes," Draco explained, catching the young lad's undivided attention as he began, "Today's lesson is Pressure Points: a point on the body you simply have to scratch, poke, or punch at to disable a dragon, or render him unconscious."

Hiccup looked to Draco, amazed by this information, and looked at his own hands. Being able to disable or knock out a dragon with just a touch was unbelievable. The young Viking gave his undivided attention to Draco, as the Golden Fleece began the lesson, just as Toothless started to wake up and once again 'volunteer' to be the Pressure Point dummy.

**At the Coliseum**

* * *

That day, it was a free-for-all fight against the Deadly Nadder, and boy was it free for all. The Nadder was going all out, knocking out some of the trainees, as well as shooting out some of the poison spike darts from its tail right at them. Astrid, on her game today, chucked an ax right at the beast, attempting to knock it out with one blow. But it had learned the last time, and smacked the ax away from its face. Astrid dodged the charging dragon, and went for her ax again to attack the beast.

However, she soon saw it was going right at Hiccup, as she snarled in spite, "Oh no, you don't," she told herself as she grabbed the ax, "Not this time."

The Nadder charged right at Hiccup, who stood in a semi-half crouch position, with his hands stretched out, and a look of concentration on his face. When the Nadder was right at him, it stopped, realizing that the boy was now in its blind spot. The Nadder tried to find the boy, by sniffing him out, but Hiccup jumped into action… literally. He grabbed the Nadder's horn, jumping on the dragon's face as he went over the beast's head, and landed on its back. The Nadder screeched and growled out, going buckaroo style to get the boy off its back. But Hiccup wasn't about to get thrown off that easily.

Hiccup was steadying himself on the beast, but saw the Nadder's tail arch up in the back, springing up its spines. It was evident that the dragon was gonna shoot its spines at him. However, Hiccup was prepared, as he looked carefully, and saw to where the tail connected to the body. Balling up his left fist, he slammed it down on that spot, and the reaction was the tail slumped to the ground, not even moving.

The Nadder, not having a clue as to what was going on, was slightly panicking. "Okay, that'll hold for about fifteen minutes, so…" but then he heard a screaming battle cry, and saw Astrid, charging forward with her ax at the ready. "Better make this quick," Hiccup told himself.

Hiccup then reached down at the Nadder's lower left portion of its neck, and began scratching it. The Nadder felt the comfort of the scratching, until finally Hiccup hit the right point. The Nadder then let out a high pitched chirping screech, and plopped to the ground unconscious. Astrid stopped right in her tracks as she saw the scene, and looked to Hiccup as he brushed himself clean off. The boy looked to her, as her shoulders slumped, and she breathed out a sigh in disappointed defeat, as well as show the defeated expression on her face as well as she looked at him straight in the eye.

After training, everyone was eating in the council mead hall, and were relaxing, even as Hiccup came in and passed the other teens. If he had been looking at this point, he would have noticed Astrid's silent glare at him. But he didn't see it, as he sat down at his empty table, and pulled out his sketch book. He turned a few pages, new ones depicting a few prosthetic limbs that he had designed, some applying a few ideas that he had in mind. But got to the page detailing new designs and attachments for the saddle and tail rig.

However, his concentration was stopped, as he heard the sounds of feet and skidding chair legs start and stop for a split second all around him. He looked up, and saw the teen Vikings, as well as the adult Vikings, all around him. They swarmed all around him, congratulating on his victory in the ring, gaining much popularity for him, as well as asking him how he did it. Though he kept those secret to himself, just saying he knew where to hit.

Astrid, on the other hand, sat alone at her table, and sneered at Hiccup's popularity. She slammed her drink on the table, and huffed, looking the other way.

* * *

**Dragon Training**

**Day 51**

Toothless was jumping and pouncing at a small reflected light on the ground. With the mannerisms of a cat chasing a mouse, he playfully tried to catch it. Though the light escaped his grasp, as he was too focused, nothing else seemed to matter as he followed the light. Hidden behind a rock, Hiccup and Draco were watching this, as Hiccup used one of his hammers to direct the beam of light. This was the lesson today, in which Dragons easily got distracted by this sort of thing.

That came useful today, as the next Dragon was the one that was kept behind by the most bolted up door. Gobber pulled the lever as he announced, "Alright… meet the Terrible Terror."

The doors suddenly rumbled, but to the teens' amazement and confusion, a small doggy door swung open. And now, standing only ten feet from them, and standing about 1/8th their size, the smallest dragon was present before them. It was small, with the body the size of a Chihuahua, small but powerful red wings, red spines going down from head to tail, and a small red horn on its nose, as well as two on its head. The dragon's body was colored light green with red trim on some areas, and had big, yellow eyes. It licked its right eye, almost similar as to how a gecko would do, as it looked at the teens. This was the Terrible Terror, the smallest of the dragons, but not the least in ferocity.

This was made evident as the teens looked at it, almost scoffing the notion of even fighting it. Tuffnut scoffed at the creature, "Ha! It's like the size of my…"

But that was cut off short, as the Terror pounced at him, knocking him on the ground and causing the others to scatter. Fur and hair flew over the place, as the Terror was attacking the stunned male twin. The dragon then latched on to his nose, trying to yank it off, seemingly looking like it did, and gnawing at it. Then suddenly, a light shone off it, catching the dragon's attention, as it pulled off Tuffnut and chased after the light. While Tuffnut was howling in pain, the Terrible Terror chased after the light…

… the light that Hiccup was making with the steel plate on the back palm of his arm gauntlet. He led the dragon back to the doggy door, much to the other teens' amazement, minus a stunned and glaring Astrid.

Once again, the worst Viking in Berk had done it again, and Astrid's jealousy was growing more from it, as was her suspicion of him. However, her jealousy became evident at this moment, with Tuffnut making the mistake in mentioning to her, while rubbing his nose, "Wow. He's a whole lot better than you ever were, Astrid."

"Hey, Tuffnut," Astrid began, almost unfazed by what he had said, and turned to face him, asking, "How's your nose?"

Cocking an eyebrow, Tuffnut shrugged, "Nah, it's doing a little…" but was cut off, by a punch to the nose, delivered by Astrid herself. He fell to the ground in a heap, as he groaned, "…. worse. It's doin' a little worse."

* * *

**Later that Day**

**Deep in the Forest**

Astrid was hard at work, training as she usually did, alone with no one holding her back. She was practicing her axe throws on a nearby tree; the tree showing much strain in the one part she kept striking and hitting at with every throw, strike, and slash she made on it. It was clearly and plainly obvious that she was working all her frustrations and anger of Hiccup on the tree… rather on him.

When she swung the axe back at the tree once again, she ran towards it and grabbed it by the handle. Pulling it out, she reversed somersaulted and flipped back in an impressive and acrobatic feat. When she landed back on her feet, she readied to throw the axe at the trees from where she stood. But when she looked behind her, ready to throw the axe again, she stopped and was slightly surprised at what… or who she saw.

There, frozen in his spot, carrying what appeared to be some kind of sack with some strange devices, was Hiccup. He seemed silently surprised to see Astrid, of all people, out here. But knew he had to get out of there before she became wise to his game. And so, he bolted out of there, with Astrid watching him go, until finally she chased after him silently. He immediately bolted behind a rock, as Astrid caught up to confront him.

But when she got there, he was gone, far from sight as she saw he was nowhere to be seen. She huffed in frustration as she smacked her fist on the rock, and went back to her training.

* * *

**Back at the Canyon**

Draco was flapping his wings strongly, creating powerful currents of wind that could send a kite flying. However, what was flying off the ground only six feet, was Toothless, with Hiccup riding atop him. But instead like last time, they were tied to a stump as they glided in place. And the saddle had been upgraded with a few more features, as Hiccup's harness had some as well. For along with the latch belt, attached to it was a pair of brown shoulder guards, made of metal, and held on to the belt by a shoulder strap that went across his chest and back. One in which were foot braces that when were pushed forward and back by the feet, they would move the artificial tail fin to where it needed to go. The other times in which Hiccup attempted to steer his dragon all ended in crashes. But now… the test flight was a success, for as with every movement Hiccup made was synchronized with Toothless.

Unfortunately, the rope that held them in place, snapped, causing the two to get pushed back into the Cliffside crashing. Draco stopped as he rushed over to them, and saw the heap they were in.

This caused the Golden Fleece to chuckle at this scene, while he tried to stifle them, "Sorry about that. But at least the saddle now works."

"Yeah, that's true," Hiccup stated as he and Toothless got back up. "But…" he started but then stopped as he felt a tug from the belt. then he and the dragons looked, and saw that the leash that held him to the saddle. The lock had been bent in place. Hiccup sighed in defeat as he groaned, "Oh great."

* * *

**That Night**

**Back in Berk**

When it was dark and no one was around, Hiccup made his way carefully through the village. But this time, he wasn't alone, as Toothless walked alongside him. The leash that held them together had to be fixed, so that they wouldn't be found out. Unfortunately for the boy, he hadn't the tools necessary to fix it, at least he didn't have them with him. So the duo had to take a risky gamble, and go to the Blacksmith shop to get the tools needed. Luckily, no one was out that night, and the patrol was only one guard that passed around every hour.

And as fast as they could when they spotted it, they went straight to Gobber's Blacksmith's shop. When they were inside, Hiccup looked around for the necessary tool needed to fix the latch. However, Toothless wandered around, and spotted a bucket nearby. Thinking that there was fish in it, he poked his head in to look around. But alas, it was empty, so the Night Fury tossed the bucket aside, making a noticeable sound, that went unheard… but noticed by one.

As Hiccup worked on the latch finally, fixing it, did he hear that familiar female voice, "Hiccup? Hiccup, is that you?"

Immediately gulping and dreading the outcome, Hiccup slipped on his Blacksmith's apron, and jumped out the window, closing right behind him. Outside, was Astrid who had heard the sound, and went to investigate. However, she was stopped as soon as Hiccup hopped out to see her, with a nervous smile.

"Oh, hi, Astrid," Hiccup stated, slightly babbling and trying to fix it, "Hey, Astrid. How… Hi, Astrid. Uh… how's it going?"

"Look," she started, not wanting to be stalled anymore as she stated, poking her finger at him accusingly. "I don't usually care about what people do. But you've been acting weird." then suddenly, Hiccup was pulled back a bit, by an unseen force. Hiccup gulped as he nervously tried to cover it up, as she shrugged with a cocked eyebrow, "Well, weirder."

Hiccup was then tugged a few more times, stumbling with every word from every tug, "I. Don't. Know what. You're. talking a…." causing Astrid's curiosity to get peeked by this scene. Until finally, he was tugged into the shop, disappearing from sight of her.

Now more suspicious, and slightly worried, she rushed over to the window and pulled them open. Unfortunately, the place was empty, causing her frustration to go in a huff. However, if she had looked behind her, she would have noticed Toothless rushing off, with Hiccup on top and steering him through every direction for a faster path, until they disappeared from sight completely.

Astrid, on the breaking point, finally turned around, and shouted out in the quiet town, "Hiccup! I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to find out! You can't keep whatever it is you have a secret forever! I'll make sure of it!"

* * *

**Next Chapter: New Friends in the Fold; Everything Known is Wrong**

* * *

**For those of you who are wondering, Hiccup's frame was redone into Edward's from Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist. This will show the kind of effect that Draco's training will have on the boy. I felt it was necessary, for Hiccup and Edward both have something in common… everyone sees them to be short.**

**Also, I thought of the perfect voice actor for Syn: Lucy Liu.**

**Also, sorry for not updating as fast as I could. The ship doesn't have wifi for me to update on. But, I shall let you all in on something I learned from the web: DreamWorks is working on the sequel for How to Train Your Dragon. ALRIGHT!**


	8. Everything We Know is Wrong

**How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 8: New Friends in the Fold; Everything Known is Wrong**

* * *

**A Night Later**

**Berk Council Galley**

* * *

Hiccup was sitting at his usual empty table, with none of his fans swarming him over with buzzing questions. Though luckily, there hadn't been any dragon training for a while now, considering it was sort of an official holiday break for them that would last for a week. Which gave the boy enough time to look over his notes; the notes which held the right tail fin movements to help him steer Toothless. He spent a few quiet moments looking them over, and then closed the book, taking leave back to his home for a good night's rest.

However, he wasn't alone during his time in there, as sitting in the table far from him, was Astrid and Syn. The girls had come a while ago, only to see Hiccup sitting at the table far from their own. At first, Syn was planning to go over and talk to him, but Astrid stopped her in time. Though initially confused by the strange action, Syn stayed as the two girls only observed the boy even as he left. And as the doors closed, with Hiccup disappearing, it was time for the two to talk.

"So," Syn started as she sighed and looked to the deep in thought Astrid, "What's this all about?"

After a moment of silence, Astrid looked to the girl and started, "It's about Hiccup. He's been acting a little out of the ordinary. Even if it is him."

Syn's eye widened a bit at the subject at hand, but then sighed, knowing where Astrid was going with this. So far, ever since Hiccup had changed physically, and did much better in the training, Astrid had become suspicious of him. And this was slightly annoying to the blonde girl, as she sighed, "Oh, not this again."

"I'm serious, Syn," Astrid stated, being more serious in her tone. "He's hiding something; I can tell."

"No, he's not hiding anything, Astrid," Syn defended.

"Well, I think he is."

"No, he isn't."

"He is!"

"NO! he isn't!" Syn finished. "Can't you just be happy that you don't have to keep rescuing him during Dragon Training? Isn't that enough?"

"Look," Astrid pointed out, ignoring her defeat at the other girl's verbal battle. "The three months are nearly up, and he's shown a sudden improvement over time in the training. His physical body's developed in over five days he was missing: a physical development that should have taken over six months. That… and he suddenly pops up with moves and weapons that take dragons down in an instant blow." She then huffed with a scoffed tone in her voice, "While the rest of us take more than one hit to knock them out or beat them."

Syn shook her head as she simply replied, "Are you sure you're not jealous much about his recent success?"

Astrid immediately turned her attention to her blonde haired and one eyed associate, and immediately denied it, "N-No! why would I be jealous of that skinny witless wonder?"

The one-eyed girl gave the now 2nd best Dragon Fighter a cocked eyebrow with a half smirk as she asked teasingly, "Astrid. We both know he's no longer a skinny wonder. Not anymore." noticing the girl's questioned look, Syn pushed it further as she stated, while looking at her glove covered nails, "Though I'm surprised, Astrid. I know Snotlout's a lot more buffer than him, but still…" she then took a sideways glance to the beautiful blonde Viking girl, inquiring with a full smirk, "… I'm amazed you're not having an unspoken attraction to him."

That last part made Astrid's jaw drop and eyes wide with shock at this, as she shot up, and shouted, "ATTRACTION!" she then pointed to the doors as she shot out, "For that gutless wonder? Have you lost your mind?" Though she was angry, she had finally calmed down as she plopped down in her seat, and huffed to the side, crossing her arms as she defended her integrity as a warrior, "Besides… I'm not one of those prissy girls that wear dresses and gush over cute guys like that type of girl. I'm more of a take it down with an axe, and then lop its head off kind of girl."

Not wanting to go further, and fearing that Astrid might be good on her promise in lopping someone's head off, Syn shrugged as she stated, "Look, would it help if I follow him and figure out what's going on?"

Astrid was quiet for a while, silently thinking it over. Then, she finally turned towards Syn's direction, and finally nodded, "Alright." But she then warned, "But if it's something I don't like…" she then reached down from the side, and displayed her axe in plain sight.

"Oh, come on, Astrid Hofferson!" Syn protested, thinking she was gonna go after Hiccup with the axe.

"Oh, relax," Astrid reassured her as she put the axe down. She then looked away, and quickly shrugged, "Still."

* * *

**The Next Day**

**Toothless's Canyon**

**Draco's Training Grounds**

* * *

Draco was gone for the while, but that didn't stop Hiccup from trying to complete the task at hand. So far, Hiccup had done well during the other practices, but there was still one left. He had yet to retrieve the tooth belonging to the unknown Dragon, the Red Death, from the tall post while still dragging on him the four weights, Strength and Focus, Harmony and Discipline. He had off his fur vest as he continued to try and climb the pole… but as before in the beginning… he kept falling down due to the weight. Even if his strength had grown, the task of climbing was still far before him.

The boy finally crashed back down on his butt, but this time it was due to frustration. Hiccup huffed as he leaned forward on his knees, looking down as he groaned aloud, "This is impossible. How am I supposed to do this? No matter what, I can't do it."

As the boy wallowed in self-loathing over this difficult task, Toothless slowly made his way to the boy. The Night Fury then stopped by the boy's side, looking at him with pity in his green catlike eyes. The dragon then silently tried to think of a way to help with the boy's task. He looked at Hiccup and then looked back at the weights that he was still holding. Toothless looked at them for a moment, until finally, his eyes lit up with an idea.

Toothless got up and now stood in front of Hiccup, purring out to him. When Hiccup looked up to come eye to eye with his dragon, the Night Fury then grabbed the ropes with his teeth, and lightly pulled him forward. Getting up from the pull, Hiccup tried to resist as he spoke out, "Hey, Toothless. Stop it." But the boy's words didn't go heard as Toothless pulled him back to the pole, even as Hiccup continued to protest, "Okay, knock it off; I'm not in the mood! Hey, come on!" and finally, he did so as Hiccup yanked the ropes with the rocks back, as he finished, "Stop pulling on these, or you're gonna get them tangled up!"

It was only after did he say those final words, did Hiccup's eyes lit up. He then looked to the ropes, gaining an idea, and looked to Toothless, smiling. He then reached out and patted the dragon's nose, in which Toothless growled pleasingly at the boy, as he said, "Thanks, boy."

Hiccup then walked over to the pole, now more ready to climb up as he looked upward, smirking, "There are no cant's… only solutions."

He then raised the ropes quickly, causing the weights to go up as well. But this time he pulled back, causing the weights to spin around one another as the ropes that held them tangled up, locking up with one another. With this done, Hiccup hoisted them on the other side, and used his own weight to pull back on them, climbing up as he did so. With this method used, he did not fall down at all as he was halfway up there now. However, when he reached a quarter closer to the tooth, he had lost his footing and nearly fell down.

But suddenly, he felt like he landed on something, but still remained high up at his spot. Confused, the young Viking boy looked down, and saw that Toothless had used his claws to climb up after him. And now, he was still on the dragon's head, with the Night Fury smiling at the boy with his toothless grin. Hiccup smirked as he said back, "Good boy."

Draco came in to the training grounds, bringing with him a stolen net full of fish. He had decided to bring back a little something for Toothless and himself to eat while Hiccup trained for the day. But he looked around, noticing none of the two were there. He looked around, and called out, "Hiccup? Toothless?" He looked around as they gave no reply, and the Golden Fleece huffed with a scowl on his face, "If those two had slacked off, then…"

But the thought was cast aside as Draco took notice of something shot at the ground in front of him. He looked down and saw the Red Death's tooth lodged into the ground like an arrow would be. The dragon then took notice of something sitting atop the pole in which the tooth was lodged into. There, Toothless was perched on the pole, with Hiccup atop the dragon as the two smirked at the older and wiser dragon. The two then hopped off as the Night Fury glided down on the ground with ease as they stopped in front of the Golden Fleece.

The dragon then picked the tooth up, and smirked at the two, "Congratulations, you two."

He then handed Hiccup the tooth, earning much confusion on the boy's face as he asked the elder dragon, "Wait! Isn't this yours?"

"It's yours now," Draco replied.

"Oh great, just what I always wanted," Hiccup stated as he looked at the tooth uncertain, "A big tooth."

Draco then explained, "Use it to forge for yourself a weapon to fight against your enemy. The Red Death's teeth, as I said before, are stronger than any steel forged from man's ironworks. It will never break from any dragon's claws, and can slash at even the strongest dragon hide and armored steel. But in the hands of a talented blacksmith, it can be forged in any weapon he so chooses to give it."

Hiccup looked a bit stunned by this, and looked at the tooth, then back to Draco as he replied, "I'll try and get creative with this."

* * *

**The Day After**

* * *

Through the thick and darkened forests, the young Viking, Syn, along with a nervous Fishlegs, were seeking out one Viking in particular. Astrid had told her that Hiccup had been seen somewhere in the vicinity last time and had just disappeared before she could follow him. The two had made their way throughout the forest, keeping track of where they had been on the pocket map she carried with her. Putting X's on a map of where they had looked for the newest Viking warrior prodigy, and so far, it was without any luck. Frustrated, she scribbled out his map and put it away in his vest.

"Oh, Sif help us," she said to herself, "Some people can find their swords or their helmets." she then groaned in frustration as he hit a tree branch out of his way, "No, not me! I'm unable to find one person!"

"Then can we go back?" Fishlegs asked, nervously looking around, "We're way out of the Safety Zone of the village. We're not even qualified Viking Warriors yet to do this sort of thing."

"There's nothing out here, Fishlegs," Syn stated, looking to the larger Viking as she tried to reassure her easily scared comrade, whom she had reluctantly brought along to help with the search. "What do you think's out here? Dragons?"

But then suddenly, she fell down a small trail plowed beneath her. Fishlegs, in a panic, squeaked out, "AH! Syn!" he immediately scuttled over to her location, and looked down as she started to get up, "Syn, what is it? A Fissure Striker? A Tunneling Horror? A Burrowing Ant Lion?"

She was about to reply as she got up, but then she and Fishlegs looked up at the tree above them, and fear and frustration were both subsided. The tree had been snapped in half; almost as if something large and heavy plowed right through it at an angle. Then the duo realized that must have been the case, for underneath it, right where Syn was standing in, a deep trail was cut into the ground, like something had crash-landed there.

"Something big," Syn replied to Fishlegs's previous question, looking rather serious at the trail, "Something really big."

The two cautiously crawled down the path; not wanting to see or find out what it was they were following now. The trail then finally ended just as it met a small hill going down. The two peered over the edge, getting a good look at the end of the trail.

It was a huge spot, where the trail ended, and were there lay the remains of large bolas and ropes. There, Syn stood only a few inches to where the cut up bola ropes lay on the ground in front of her.

"What the heck was out here?" she asked herself out loud, kneeling down and holding up the ropes that had once trapped the unknown Night Fury to them both.

Fishlegs looked around cautiously, whispering to himself in RPG lingo, "Unknown variables. Search with extreme caution…"

"Can you stop that?" Syn asked out of annoyance as she stood up.

The two then walked a little further into the forest, in the direction that Toothless had flown away when Hiccup released him. It wasn't a hard task, considering the broken branches and paw prints. It seemed evident that whatever was trapped by those bolas, must have been hurt. Otherwise, it wouldn't have crashed so many times. They followed the trail until it led them to where the tracks and broken branches ended at.

Syn and Fishlegs were now at the end of the trail, or so they thought it was. They stepped between two large rocks, and behind them laid a small canyon. It was surrounded by tall rock walls, much like the ones in the training arena. It was full of lush, green plants, the sun was shining into it, and there were birds fluttering about inside it. Even in the canyon, was a small lake in it, either used for swimming or drinking in. in some aspect, it was like a small private paradise for anyone who wanted to get away… or to hide in.

The two Viking teens took a look into the canyon, a bit disappointed that they didn't find Hiccup. "Well this was a waste of time," Syn muttered, and then turned her attention back to the stoutly Viking. "C'mon, let's…"

"Scales," he muttered, as he knelt down, muttering again, "Dragon scales."

She looked down to his left and saw small black scales. He picked one up for the both of them to get a better look at it. There was no mistaking anything about it; the scales that he held in his hand were identical to a dragon's scales.

She looked at the scale in confusion, obviously being the first time seeing a scale of this color. "A pitch black scale?" she asked herself aloud, "What kind of…"

As if to answer her question, a large, black figure swept by right in front of them. They jumped back a bit, with Fishlegs landing on his butt, but Syn regained her footing as she looked to see what it was. It was a dragon unlike anything they had ever seen before. It landed back on the ground, a little bit clumsy at first, but enough for her to get a good look at it.

Her eye went wide as she whispered, "Night Fury."

Summing up enough courage to do this, Syn jumped down to a rock ledge so he could get a better look at the dragon, as it barely noticed her, or the clumsy Fishlegs stumbling with her. The two hid in cover of the rocks as they observed the once rare and mysterious of the dragons. So far it seemed to not have noticed them, as it created a bed of charred grass and earth with its flames, padded it with its feet like a cat would, and plopped down. They noticed the dragon seemed a bit bored… but then they took notice of what it was looking at.

On one of the larger rocks nearest to the dragon… was Hiccup's fur vest.

"Oh, Gods!" Fishlegs cried out in a panic, "The Dragon ate…!"

But luckily Syn pulled him down, right before Toothless took notice of them both. The Night Fury looked at the rock cliff side in which he first spotted Hiccup. He had thought it was him but it couldn't have been. Besides, his voice didn't sound that high-pitched like a girl's.

"Will you be quiet?" Syn hissed at the larger Viking, covering his small mouth. "The last thing we need to do is get its attention."

"But…!" Fishlegs nearly shouted, but then turned into a whisper, "But that dragon… it ate Hiccup."

"I know!" Syn shouted in an angered whisper, but then slumped her shoulders, as she looked away, hiding a depressed look on her face, "I know." She then looked down at the Night Fury; her gloved hands balling up into fists as she angrily sneered at the dragon, "But that thing is not gonna get away with it."

When they got to the canyon that the Night Fury had trapped itself in, the two Viking teens found a lower entrance so they wouldn't have to climb in. The two hid between two rocks just at the entrance and then made their way stealthily to the bushes. They looked at the Night Fury at the ready to attack it.

But Syn looked to Fishlegs as she grabbed one of her homemade grenades, "Okay, what've you got? Your hammer?"

"Uh, no," Fishlegs admitted, looking rather dismayed that he didn't bring it.

"Axe?"

"Nu-uh."

"Bolas?"

"Ah… nope."

Syn's shoulders slumped as she looked in a disappointed manner, "Not even your shield?"

Fishlegs's response wasn't one of reassurance as he looked away to avoid her gaze. But then he lit up as he pulled out a dagger no bigger than his finger, "I got this."

Syn looked disdained at this as she remarked sarcastically, "Oh great. It can pick its teeth if it gets us." She then turned around, seeing the Night Fury still looking bored as ever, and readied one of her grenades, "Alright. Let's do this."

"NO, wait! Do you know what that thing could do to you?" Fishlegs warned her, stopping her from attacking Toothless. "It'll grind your bones for its bread!"

"Well, actually, that would be a giant," a giant voice chuckled, getting the two teens' attention.

They whipped around to see where it came from… only to see that the owner of the voice belonged to a thought-long extinct Golden Fleece Dragon. The two jumped up in surprise and fear, as they backed away slowly. But Draco decided to play it a bit as he poked out, "Now, dragons, such as myself… Oh, they're much worse." It was starting to work with the way Fishlegs was starting to pale, sweat, and nearly squeaked out as he went on, "They'll use their claws to make a suit from your freshly peeled skin! They'll shave your liver with their teeth. And then, if they want to, they'll squeeze the jelly from your eyes!" He then dropped the act a bit, as he turned and tapped his chin in thought aloud with a smile on his face, "Actually, now that I think about it, it's quite good on toast."

But then his attention was brought back to the teens as Syn waved out a grenade, which in fact was a flash flare, as she waved it at him, shouting, "Back! Back, you beast, back! I warn ya!" However, Draco wasn't intimated one bit, as he licked his massive clawed fingers, and extinguished the flare like a match. Syn's rants went away, as she looked at the now put out flare, and nervously looked at Draco, "Right."

The two scooted back, turning around to get away, but only to come with a snarling Toothless blocking their way. They then turned around to see Draco, leaning down, and tapping his chin, slyly commenting, "Now then… what to do with all of you."

"What are you guys doing here?" a panicked voice gained their attention.

All of them, both human and dragon turned at the entrance to the canyon, to see none other than a confused and equally shocked Hiccup. Strapped to his back was the perhapsed weapon that he had forged from the Red Death's tooth. But it was not noticeable as while the dragons were distracted, Syn and Fishlegs ran up to him. Fishlegs ran past him, while Syn grabbed him by the arm, urging and pulling him to supposed safety.

"Hiccup, come one," Syn pleaded in her shout to him, while tugging him along, "We gotta get out of here, it's dangerous!"

Hiccup, now getting a clear idea on this, pulled apart from them as he sighed, "Boy, are you guys clueless." with this said and done, he got both their attention as he looked to Draco and asked, "What'd you say to them?"

Draco merely chuckled, as did Toothless, who was letting out a seal-like roar, and rolling on his back in the process. Draco calmed down a bit, but still smirking as he confessed, "Sorry, Hiccup. But they were spying around the place. I just thought I might try and scare them off."

Hiccup turned to them, seeing Fishlegs and Syn, both shocked and confused by all this. He then turned back to the dragon and replied, "Should've tried harder."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a minute!" Syn finally snapped out of her shock, and ignoring the fact that a dragon was actually talking, and walked up to Hiccup to interrogate him on some much needed info. "Hiccup! Are you telling us you know this dragon?" she asked as she pointed right at Draco.

Toothless looked to the two Vikings in question of him, and then back at the two dragons. The trio sighed as Hiccup looked to the two teen Vikings as he confessed, "Well… they're pretty much my friends. One's a best friend, and the other's a mentor figure." He then pointed to Draco as he finished, "He's the reason I've been getting good at Dragon Training."

Syn and Fishlegs were a little stunned by this as she whispered to herself while turning away from Hiccup's eyesight, "Well, I guess it's safe to assume Astrid was right about him hiding something." but she shook that aside as she raced towards Hiccup and grabbed him by the shoulders, pleading him to come to his senses, "Hiccup, have you lost your mind? A Viking… friends with dragons? Hiccup, do you have any idea how much trouble you can get by being friends with a dragon? Do you know how much trouble you can get by _talking_ about being friends with a dragon? You can get in trouble just by _listening_ to some one talking about being friends with a dragon!"

"I know, I know," Hiccup defended, but turned his attention to the two dragons and back to Syn, "But, well um…" Hiccup didn't know how to put it into words as he scratched the back of his neck in trying to come with his thoughts. But he didn't, as he broke from her hold and walked up to Draco, holding the cloth covered item, "I, uh… was able to forge a sword out of the tooth."

"Tooth?" Syn and Fishlegs asked in confusion.

"Alright, let's have a good look at it," Draco suggested as Hiccup held up the clothed item.

Held in the dragon's massive hand, he used his other hand's clawed finger pull back the cloth, and revealed the blade for all to see. The Red Death's tooth had been forged into that of a Viking sword. The blade was firm and strong, but where the blade connected to the hilt, appeared to be a bit thinned out on the sides, making sort of an inside half-moon portion to it. Down the middle of the blade, an opening was made, perhaps to give it speed or to lock an opponent's blade in place. The hilt was tied in brown leather straps for a better grip, with a traditional styled hand guard for the sword. All in all, it looked almost too good to have been made out of a dragon's fang.

Draco tested it out by rolling it around his knuckles, and tapped it on his own fang. "It's a fine blade, Hiccup. Best ever crafted from a master blacksmith, if I ever met one," the Golden Fleece complimented after a careful observation, Draco smirked to the young Viking as he then stated, "When I first met you, Hiccup, you were so unsure of yourself, doubted by others and doubting yourself. But as the training past on these three months, I saw something in you, even before you asked for the training. I saw a heart as strong as a lion's and twice as big. And as we trained, it wasn't your skills that impressed me. No, it wasn't your skills."

"Thank you for summing that up," Hiccup stated as his shoulders slumped, hearing that comment about his skills.

"You showed something beyond that, beyond any Viking I've ever encountered," Draco defended as he looked to Hiccup, who seemed to brighten up a bit as he went on. "Creativity, versatility, Adaptation, intelligence. These are the traits that define a great warrior. These are the traits that define you. You once told me that you were unsure if you could become a Viking Dragon Fighter. Well, I believe that you are worthy as a warrior, a far better one than I've trained, other than my former student… the one who… well, you know." he then handed Hiccup his newly forged sword as he finished, "Keep in practice, Hiccup. For if you continue this path, you may become a great Viking… as well as a Dragon Rider, just like those of the Old Code."

"The Old Code?" Hiccup asked, raising an eyebrow at this.

The other two teen Vikings were confused by this, as was a still-on-his-guard Toothless. "You know," Draco pointed out, knowing full well what he was talking about to the boy, "The oath that we've repeated ever since the training. Like so: A Rider and his Dragon are sworn to Valor…Their Hearts know only Virtue, Their Blade and Claws defend the Helpless, Their Strength and Might uphold the Weak, Their Word and Roar speak only Truth, Their Wrath and Courage undoes the Wicked and Evil." after Draco had finished reciting his Old Code, he looked to Hiccup, who seemed to be a little bit clueless still, but he brushed it off as he brought his head down to come eye to eye with the boy, "But enough about that, today's the day for your final test in flight."

This earned a bright smile to both Hiccup and Toothless as the Night Fury left both a confused Syn and Fishlegs. The Night Fury stopped right next to Hiccup, eagerly wagging his tail like a dog in anticipation of the test to come. The two were feverishly awaiting to see the fruits of their training together with the saddle and tail harness.

But then, Hiccup remembered the two new Vikings among them and turned to look at them, seeing their confused looks. He then looked back to Draco as he pointed to them, "What'll we do about them?"

Draco looked to the two teens, and allowed a small smirk to spread across his face as he nodded, "Yes. That is a complexity of its own, isn't it?" he then looked to Hiccup and Toothless as he answered, "I just thought of a solution to better help this situation."

* * *

**Berk Docks**

The Vikings that remained behind were now at the docks, along with Unfer and Gobber as they welcomed the now returning search party. Or what was left of them. In truth, they all had returned, but they didn't come back in one piece. The ships were either burnt in some places, or chunks of them had been bitten or torn out. It looked like their search for the nest had nearly been a costly one for them all, considering the dragons they had come across gave them a fracas they wouldn't soon forget. But despite the happy thought that they had all come back, the Vikings that returned, including Stoick, all had sour and disappointed expressions on their faces. But none of them seemed more disappointed and foul-tempered at this moment, than Stoick himself.

As his friend, with his interchangeable hand now a paddle, was there to greet him, along with Unfer, the others were getting out and helped out by the other Vikings.

Gobber grabbed his pack as he asked his friend, "So… I take it you found the nest?"

"Not even close," Stoick grumbled, as he roughly pushed Unfer aside. The trio then walked side by side each other as they made their way across the pier. As they did, Stoick asked the two, "I'm hopin' you two had more luck than I did with Hiccup back here."

"Well, I can safely say that your parenting troubles are over," Unfer announced to the Viking chief.

This earned a confused look on the chief's face, but before he could ask what he meant by that, a few of the villagers rushed on over, passing them. And each of them congratulated on Stoick as they past them by,

"Stoick! Everyone in the village is so relieved now!"

"Out with the old, in with the new, eh?"

"No one's gonna miss that big nuisance, not one bit."

"Right before the Nightmare Battle, we're all gonna celebrate with a big party."

As the villagers left the trio from all that commotion, Stoick's face was one of worry. Apparently, he had misinterpreted their statements, saying that Hiccup was no more amongst them… alive, that is. Worried, he looked to his friend and asked, "He's gone?"

"Well, yes, most afternoons, but who can blame him?" Gobber shrugged, swaying Stoick's worries aside as he explained, "I mean, the life of a celebrity is pretty straining on the poor lad. What with being swarmed all over by his new fans and all. Who wouldn't want to disappear in the woods for the whole day?"

"That, and I believe he's trying to avoid Miss Hofferson," Unfer pointed out, scratching and stroking his small beard. "Ever since he became the newest prodigy in Dragon Training, she's been growing more and more jealous of his accomplishments, he practically overshadows her in skill and physical improvements."

It was after hearing all that, that Stoick stopped the two, and asked them both, "Are we talking about the same Hiccup here?"

Gobber nodded a yes to that as he smirked, "Yeah, I know. Who'd ever thought, eh? I mean, he's not as buff as me or you, but he's actually grown muscles on his toothpick body. And who'd ever thought of his success in the ring? With all the new moves and weapons he's been making himself, he's on a whole new field. And then there's the way that he fights the dragons. It's like he has some way with the beasts."

"Almost as if he's taming a bunch of pets," Unfer shrugged at that.

That earned a chuckled laugh from Gobber, "Pets, eh? That's a laugh; oh, I've gotta write that down in my notes."

As the other two Vikings were going over with each other, Stoick looked the other way, completely astounded of the news about his son.

* * *

**Elsewhere**

Far away from the village of Berk, or rather, high up in the sky, nearly hidden in the clouds, something else was going on. Soaring above the clouds, and the forests of Berk, Toothless was steadily flying in the air, with Hiccup on his back, steering him. After nearly three months of training and practice flight, the two were now ready to do the real thing this time.

However, they weren't alone, as Draco swooped up right in front of the two young ones. His mighty wings flapping in the air, allowing the mighty dragon to soar in the sky with no challenge or battle against gravity to be a problem. But as the beast soared through the cloud-filled and spacious airway, it wasn't all that quiet. For riding on the mighty Golden Fleece's back, Syn and Fishlegs were accompanying them all on this, holding onto the dragon by makeshift reins made of rope, tied to Draco. And for the two, unlike Hiccup who was used to this, they weren't exactly all too thrilled about this one bit.

"AHHHHH!" Fishlegs cried out, holding onto the rope for dear life. "I just thought they were gonna tie us up to a tree! I didn't think that this was what the dragon meant!"

A little more composed in holding her fear back, she turned to look behind to where Hiccup was. "I still can't see how you're not scared about all this?" she cried out to the boy, gaining his attention, "Any other person would freak out about all this! And you're not even flinching like you'd usually do!"

"I don't know," Hiccup called out as he shrugged to the girl. "I guess after three months, I've just gotten used to it." He then smirked at her, "Besides… it's kind of amazing to do this kind of thing!"

"Alright, enough chitchat everyone," Draco pointed out as he looked to Hiccup from behind him, "It's time to being Flying 101. Just follow my lead, Hiccup; your job is to steer Toothless. Get in synch with him with the movements of his tail. You too, Toothless, you need to read the boy as well as follow where he motions you to move." and then made a turn in the air, going to the left.

"Okay there, bud," Hiccup said to Toothless as he readied himself, on both the handle reins on the saddle and the steering foot/ankle guards. "We're gonna take this nice and slow." He looked down at the cheat sheet he had made, containing all the tail fin movements he needed to remember, and nodded as he spotted the right one, "Alright, we'll follow them with Position three… no, four."

With that move in his head, Hiccup turned the left pedal backwards, causing the tail fin to open wider now. Toothless spotted that, and looked back forward, knowing full well now where to go. The two then followed Draco, in a perfect turn after the Golden Fleece, along with his passengers. The two dragons stopped turning as now both of them were facing the ocean, with Hiccup looking behind him and saw that the artificial tail fin was working perfectly with Toothless's real fin. Draco then dived down gently to the ocean, and then soared over it to two rock formations, with Syn and Fishlegs still freaking out.

"Alright, here we go," Hiccup told himself as he and Toothless dived down after them.

The two soared over the ocean's surface, following Draco as he went into and under a rocky arch that connected to the island's rocks. Toothless, soaring over the water, as his wing gently touched the water in Hiccup's effort to balance him, looked at the rocky passageway, hoping not to crash into it. But luck was on his side, as Hiccup steered him perfectly through on the other side.

Hiccup had to smile at this achievement, "Yes. It worked." Now with this feeling of accomplishment, Hiccup felt it was gonna be a breeze. However, he overstepped his confidence, as he and Toothless slammed into a rock pillar, "Sorry about that!" and then another rock pillar. "My bad!" Toothless had enough of it, as he used his right ear to slap Hiccup hard on the right, snapping him out of it, "Ow! Yeah, yeah, I'm on it!"

"Focus, Hiccup!" Draco shouted to them, "You need to stay focused while in flight!" And then, he took off up higher into the sky.

"Okay, Position four… no, three," Hiccup stated as he changed gears. After the gears were changed, Hiccup and Toothless began flying after Draco into a vertical ascent. Rapidly gaining altitude, the adrenaline started to build up into him, climbing along with the altitude counter after Draco. Overwhelmed by excitement, he exclaimed, "Yeah! Come on, baby! Let's go! Ha ha…" Hiccup couldn't help but be happy about this as he shouted, "Ah, man! This is awesome! The wind in my face…!"

Back on Draco, Fishlegs was still a little wary, closing his eyes in fright. But Syn had completely forgotten about the whole dragon/human friend issue, and was steadily enjoying this new experience for her. This was made evident as she shouted, "Whooohooo! This is just awesome! The wind in my…" however, that moment was short lived, as the rope that she used to hold on to, snapped. She saw this, and all the excitement halted as she started to fall off, with Fishlegs shouting out.

"FLEECE!" Fishlegs shouted to the dragon, "Syn's chances of survival are dwindling… DWINDLING!"

Hiccup saw it, and then saw Syn's falling and screaming form past him and Toothless. His eyes went bug eyed with fright as he shouted, "SYN!"

Absent-mindedly, or perhaps intentional, he let go of the harness. But then he realized the mistake way too late, when he noticed nothing but 200 meters of air between the three of them and the ground. Toothless realized this, as without Hiccup helping him to steer, the dragon's equilibrium with the sky soon was shattered, as he too fell down along with Hiccup, who was making his way to Syn.

Finally, after a few seconds of steadying each other, Hiccup grabbed Syn's wrist, as he smirked in relief, ""I… I got ya!"

Ignoring the happy moment her friend caught her, she screamed at him in a panic, "You got me? Wh-Who's got you!"

Flailing around, Hiccup and Syn both saw Toothless falling down with them both, and also saw Draco nose-diving towards them. Not planning on waiting, Hiccup attempted to grab hold of Toothless and get back onto the saddle, while holding on to Syn. Toothless was roaring all over, bug-eyed and scared; he was starting to panic as well. Without Hiccup at the controls, he was unable to fly, and was also free-falling towards a messy death.

"It's alright, just angle yourself!" Hiccup shouted to Toothless, as now the three were falling down together.

However, Toothless was swirling around in a circle, and his tail had swatted Hiccup hard on the left side of his face. The boy was able to steady himself, with Syn's help, and only she noticed the swat had injured Hiccup. There, bleeding slightly a small horizontal scar was right under his eye. But it was obvious that he didn't care much, as by grabbing her, they both dived at Toothless.

Finally, the two Viking teens manage to pull themselves back onto the Night Fury, just as the Golden Fleece dived right next to them. "Pull up, my boy!" Draco shouted as he pointed below, "You're gonna crash!"

As Hiccup settled down on the saddle, with Syn sitting behind him and wrapping her arms around Hiccup's chest tightly, it was only then that the two saw it. They were heading down towards the shoreline, where a forest of rock pillars awaited them.

Digging his heels into the pedals, Hiccup re-established control and pulled the harness hard. This caused Toothless to spread his wings, slowing their descent. As they started to slow their pace, the cheat sheet that held the moves down, flew away, with Syn noticing it, as she shouted, "Hiccup, the cheat sheet!"

Hiccup took notice of the sheet, as did he notice they were coming in closer to the rocks. He then shouted, "Hang on!"

Letting his instincts and trust in Toothless take over, he switch gears on the fly, rapidly changing tail fin positions as Toothless swerved between the rock formations, diving and climbing through the air. If the situation wasn't a matter of life and death for the two teens and Night Fury, the all-new experience would have been an awesome ride. Despite leaving left and right, as well as the occasional spin, the rock formation wasn't letting up for them. While they did this, Draco flew overhead of the formation, trying to spot them out with a now calmer Fishlegs scouting out for them. Back in the pillar forest, Hiccup and Toothless, now in synch with each other, were dodging the pillars with the speed of… well, a very fast object.

Syn, now finally able to open her eye again, noticed Hiccup as they flew for dear life. The look on his face wasn't the face of the Viking that made sarcastic remarks, nor even a hint of fear on him anymore. Instead, he was more concentrated on getting them through this. And to this change, he looked… mature and courageous. This earned a half-smirk on the explosive expert's face at seeing her friend like this.

The trio then bolted right out of the rock pillars, now reaching clear ocean view. Draco and Fishlegs spotted this, as the two soared out from above them, and sighing in relief that they made it. Hiccup let out a sigh of relief as well, and Syn released her death grip on Hiccup as she put her hands on his shoulder guards now.

Punching his fists in the air in a sign of victory, Hiccup exclaimed in the joy of having cheated death, "YEAH!"

"ALRIGHT!" Syn cried out in joy as well, shook her fist in the air.

Fishlegs couldn't help but shout out as well at their successful feat, "Yeah, alright!"

"Well done, lad. Well done," Draco boomed out in laughter and a smile, seeing his pupil make it out of there alive, and in perfect synch with Toothless as well.

And in an act of agreement, Toothless releases a ball of plasma that bursts into a brilliant flame in front of him, Hiccup, and Syn.

Hiccup saw this, and unlike the happy Syn, his shoulders slumped as he groaned, "Aw, come on…"

And the last thing that happened, was the Night Fury swept on in through the flame burst, carrying his rider and the pyromaniac girl, right on in.

* * *

**Later On**

**Other Side of Berk Shores**

The five had landed on the rocky shoreline, far from Berk where they sat around a makeshift fire, eating fish. Hiccup and Syn were sort of slightly in the best of conditions, as they did survive the fly through the burst, but didn't come out as clean as whistles. The two were covered in soot, and Hiccup's hair was singed at the ends, pulled back as it gave him a new look. The cut under his left eye had been cauterized, so now it was a permanent scar now. Syn, on the other hand, was enjoying the last remaining tingle sensation when they shot through the fire.

As Hiccup blinked a bit, getting the flexibility back in his face, or at least watering his eyes once more, Toothless began to make another hacking sound. The young Viking could only remember that sound as he turned to his left, where he and Syn leaned back on Toothless, as he looked and saw Toothless hacking out a half-eaten fish.

"Ah, no thanks," He said holding up the fish he had on the stick, "I'm good."

"I'll take it," Syn popped up as she stuck the fish carcass on her stick and brought it over to the fire.

However, it was while this moment, in which Syn and Fishlegs both were a bit accepting the two dragons, that Syn pointed out as she cocked an eyebrow at Draco, "Y'know… I just realized… you two aren't like dragons at all."

Both Draco and Toothless looked to the girl, cocking eyebrows thinking that she thought she knew everything. And so, Draco leaned down to her eyelevel, nearly getting into her face as he smirked and asked, "Hmmm, well how many dragons to you know in person?"

Leaning back further into Toothless, she looked to him, and then to Draco, and answered with a shrug, "Well… you guys are the first."

"You shouldn't always listen or believe in dragonslayer stories, Syn," Draco advised as he explained, "A Dragon would never harm a human, unless they were provoked or attacked."

It was at that last part, Fishlegs's interest on the subject arose. "Really?" he asked as he looked up at the dragon, to whom he was sitting in front of, "Then why are a whole horde of them are raiding our village?"

That question got all the teens thinking the same thing as they looked ot the elder dragon for answers. Draco merely shrugged as he began, "Well, it's fairly simple: usually they would do that for several reasons. One, someone attacked the nest and they're retaliating. Two, they're probably trying to get you to leave. Or third, they probably can't find hunting ground to get large quantities of food…"

But then suddenly, a loud hissing and chirping sound caught all their attention. A small pack of Terrors flew in and landed nearby to them, drawn by the scent of raw food being cooked. The three teens were a bit surprised; with Hiccup acting a bit calm by the sudden surprised, but Syn and Fishlegs at their guard. Draco didn't seem to mind the smaller band of dragons coming in, but Toothless let out a low growl as he pulled his food closer to himself, as if warning the much smaller dragons to stay away from his meal.

In amusement, the three observe the little lizards try to steal a piece or two away, first by engaging in a little tug-of-war with Toothless; the winner was obvious from the beginning. And then one of the regular green and red Terrors, tried to sneak a piece away while he was distracted. Toothless caught the Terror in its tracks, and promptly snatched back the piece of meat. Angered at its failed plot, the smaller dragon tried aggression, drawing its breath and getting ready to shoot its flame at Toothless.

But before it can do anything, though, Toothless spat a small blob of bright blue plasma right into its open mouth. Surprised, the Terror's eyes snapped wide open, as it fell back from the impact. Smoking from its ears and mouth, it dizzily tottered about.

Hiccup chuckled as he looked at the dizzy Terror, "Heh. Not so fireproof on the inside, are ya?"

"Whoa," Fishlegs exclaimed in fascination, "That would save a whole lot of fighting, just by shooting flame in the dragon's mouth, right before it had the chance to fire a shot."

"That's impossible," Syn stated, "You don't know when it's gonna do that."

"Well, actually… you can," Draco stated as he explained, as he tapped the right side of his chest. "A dragon always blows flames from its fire lung, which is the right side. Before it can breathe, it has to draw enough air for the gas the fire lung creates to spew flames. When it builds it up in its mouth, the sound of it sounds like a man snoring. That's when you can strike at the dragon's most vulnerable time."

Partly out of pity, and partly because she didn't want Toothless to burn the poor thing to a crisp, Syn took one of the non-cooked fish and tossed it over to the Terror.

"Here you go." She said. The green Small One snatched up the fish and swallowed it whole. The green Small One tilted its head to the side as Hiccup settled back against my side and scuttled over to him curiously.

It curiously examined the female Viking and then the fish, then bit it with its teeth, and swallows the content whole. Full, it looked at her with its large round eyes, and scurried over to her. A little worried, she looked to Hiccup for answers, but he gave her a half-smirk. And then, much to her surprise, it scuttled into her lap, curled up into a ball, and cuddled up against her.

A look of unbridled surprise was on her face, as was Fishlegs's, and then a smile formed. Her hand subconsciously ran itself over the scales of the Terror. This one, strangely, wasn't aggressive like the one she and the others faced in the ring. The look on its face was one of peace and serenity; what girls would find to be cute. Its skin felt warm to the touch, and didn't give off any feelings of hostility.

No one would've been able to imagine this any time before this, but it was strange in a good way. None of the three Viking teens present didn't think that any other person in their village would be able to experience or truly appreciate this feeling, due to their attitudes against the dragons. But they misunderstand…

At that moment, Syn looked to Hiccup astounded by this as he nearly whispered in surprise, "Hiccup…"

"I know," Hiccup replied as he smiled at the scene in front of him. "Everything we know about these guys. Everything they told us, read to us, or even pound into our heads since birth about the dragons… is wrong."

* * *

**Next Chapter: Who Kills Dragons, and Who Befriends Them; A Romantic Flight and Deadly Discoveries**

* * *

**Also, if you're wondering, the design for Hiccup's new sword, came from Ragnarok of Soul Eater.**


	9. Romantic Flight n Deadly Discoveries pt1

****

How to Train Your Dragon: The Novelization

* * *

**Chapter 9: Who Kills Dragons, and Who Befriends Them; A Romantic Flight and Deadly Discoveries pt.1**

* * *

**Later That Night**

**Gobber's Blacksmith Shop**

* * *

Hiccup sat by his desk, leaning back in his chair, as he looked up at the ceiling. Gobber and everyone else were busy recuperating the failure and near losses from their search at the Helheim Gates, the supposed area to where the Dragon's nest was located. This actually gave the boy enough time to himself for the next couple of hours. The last thing he needed was someone discovering his secret, aside from Fishlegs and Syn.

When they got back, they had promised to keep both dragons a secret, as long as they got to visit the canyon whenever Hiccup did. He figured that wouldn't be a problem, considering that Syn and Fishlegs were more interested in learning more about Dragons… the real facts about them, that is. Fishlegs seemed more fascinated about the different powders and gases that affected a dragon, much like Garlic Grass, Salt Seaweed, Piping Peppers, and even the mineral, Sulfurious.

But right now, his mind was deeply troubled about one fact: winning tomorrow's test in killing the Monstrous Nightmare this Saturday. It wasn't that he had wanted this; three months ago, he would have leapt at the opportunity of killing his first dragon. But now… his friendship with Toothless, as well as his grandson/grandfather relationship with Draco… it had changed everything. It had changed him as well, not just physically… but… it had changed his way of thinking about all the dragons, and how he felt about them all. And then there was the Code that Draco had taught him. For some reason, there was a deeper meaning in the words that Draco had taught him. Whatever it was, for some odd sense to him, it gave both him and his dragon courage, strength, and something else.

He looked to the sketched drawings he made of each dragon from the coliseum, as well as detailed drawings of Toothless and Draco. However, his thoughts were disturbed, as soon as he heard footsteps enter into the shop.

Immediately, he spun around, spouting out his excuses, "Gobber! I'm… I'm sorry, I…" but he stopped as soon as he looked to see who was trying to fit himself through, "Dad?" Indeed it was Stoick the Vast, trying to squeeze his massive frame through the small doorway, as Hiccup stood up, surprised to see his father returned, "Um… sorry to say, Dad. But if you're looking for Gobber, he's not here."

"I wasn't looking for him," Stoic answered, as he finally popped through, and stood up, towering over his son, "I came to see you, son."

"Me?"

"You've been keeping secrets," Stoick bluntly drummed out.

At those words, Hiccup's heart momentarily stopped beating. Cold fear gripped at his legs, as he try to stutter out a reply, "Uh… I… I have?"

"Just how long did you think you could hide it from me?" Stoick replied, as his eyes squinted to razor sharp points, glaring directly at his son.

Hiccup's palms began to get super sweaty, as his pulse began to race in a panic. This is not good. Not good at all. He continued to feign innocent, "I… I don't know… what you're talking about…"

"Nothing happens in this village, or on this island, without me hearing about it." Stoick replied with a hint of annoyed anger in his voice at first, but then softened back down as he walked towards his son, and stopped as they were both now five feet away from each other. "So, let's talk." He paused for dramatic effect, "… about that dragon."

At that moment, Hiccup's legs nearly gave way; he had resigned to his fate. he was probably going to get charged for 'fraternizing with the enemy' or 'going against the village's rules', and Toothless and Draco were probably going to be hunted down. Summoning up enough courage back up, but barely enough, he weakly replied. "Oh gods… no… Dad, I'm so sorry… I was going to tell you… I… I just didn't know how to…"

Suddenly, the chief's face relaxed, changing into an expression of mirth, as he busted out in loud, bellowing laughter. Extremely confused, Hiccup could only follow suit with a feigned laugh of his own. The young Viking look around, just in case someone decided to pull a prank on him in the end. Seeing no one, Hiccup then weakly and nervously asked, "Ha... ha... so you're not upset?"

"What?" Stoick asked in surprise, but regained his elation as he smiled brightly at his son, "I was hoping for this!"

At that moment, Hiccup knew that, once again, they were on completely different wavelengths. "You... were?"

"Believe me, it only gets better! Just wait till you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time, or mount your first Gronckle head on a spear... What a feeling!" I was evident to Hiccup that his father was happy about his success in the ring. Why shouldn't he be excited? After all, his son was finally, in his eyes, doing something right for once.

However, he didn't know what to say at this point, so he led him continue.

"You really had me going there, son! All those years of the worst Viking Berk's ever seen; Odin, it was rough, and to tell the truth, I almost gave up on you. Turns out all this time you've been holding out on me. Oh, Thor Almighty!" Coming closer, he places his hand firmly on his shoulder, "Not to mention you finally gained some meat, albeit a bit small for my taste, you're finally far from being a toothpick anymore." With all the happiness that a proud father could muster, he smiled warmly at the boy as he sat down in the chair right in front of Hiccup as he sat down as well. "With you doing so well in the course, we finally have something in common to talk about."

When that was said, Hiccup looked at him, and he stared back expectantly. Under his stare, the young Viking fidgeted, not knowing what to do or what to say. Until finally, Hiccup asked, "So, um… how's the hunt for the… the Dragon's Nest?"

It was then that the Viking chief's expression changed from elated to exhausted as he took a deep sigh and answered, "Ugh! don't get me started. We were close, but not even close enough. We thought we found the nest, but all we found was an ambush and several dragons waiting at every corner." Stoick removed his helmet as he stroked his hair back, trying to massage his brain, "It's strange though. From the way they acted… it was almost like they knew we were coming."

At that last statement, Hiccup turned a bit in thought about what his father had told him. It's true, Hiccup knew now that dragons weren't mindless beasts, but they weren't known for strategic battle planning. Someone had to be pulling the strings and ordering the dragons as such… someone _human_. His face was in horrified realization of this as he tried to cover it up when his father spoke up again.

"Ah, but they're just mindless, vicious beasts," Stoick shrugged it off. "Nothin' to get worried about." But then, Stoick reached from behind him as he pulled something out, breaking the ice once again. "Oh... I, uh, got something for you."

Hiccup held the item in his hand, completely stunned as to what it was. It was a Viking helmet, with mid-shortened horns on both sides, and big enough to fit his head. Usually Vikings his age were given these if they were given their rite of passage. But it was clear then, that Stoick, his father, now saw him as a Viking.

"Wow," Hiccup nearly whispered out his amazement, as he looked to his father, "Thanks, Dad."

Your mother would have wanted you to have it," his father stated, which caused Hiccup's eyes to nearly warm themselves at realizing that the helmet came from his mother. He gently stroked the top of the helmet, almost sensing his mother's presence on the helmet. But that changed as soon as his father stated, "… it's half her breastplate." that caused him to cringe a bit, at realizing that he was holding a part of his mother's… unmentionables. He looked to his dad to find the answers, until Stoick tapped his helmet and answered, "Part of a set. It, uh… keeps her close."

"Um, that's great," Hiccup managed to get out, just as Stoick awkwardly made his way out. "Thank you for the breast-hat," he slipped out, but shook his head as he corrected, "I mean, helmet."

But his father was already out of there, giving Hiccup a sense of peace as he let out a huge sigh of relief. Hiccup sat back down in his chair, looking over his sketches, now in a much worried contemplation. However, it was only a few minutes until things were quiet again for him. But that changed as someone knocked on the door, getting his attention.

"Uh, dad… ?" he asked as he turned to face the door, "Was there something that you…?" but he immediately stopped as soon as he saw it wasn't his father… but Unfer. "Unfer!" the young Viking exclaimed with great surprise as the council member stepped in, "Uh, if you're, um… looking for my dad…"

"I didn't come looking for him," Unfer stated to the boy quite cut and dry. "I actually came to speak with you, Hiccup."

"You… you did?" Hiccup asked, feeling a little nervous as he shuffled the dragon drawings aside, and muttered, "Looks like everyone's trying to see me for something today."

"You've been keeping secrets," Unfer bluntly drummed out, with a small smirk spreading across his face.

After hearing that, Hiccup just had to sigh at this, knowing full well this was gonna be like his father. He took a deep sigh out as he leaned back in his chair and replied, "Yeah, you're right. I've been keeping secrets."

"Just how long did you think you could hide it from the whole village? From your father, no doubt?" Unfer replied, as he cocked an eyebrow at the young Viking, while still holding on to his grin.

Hiccup, not worried about it at all, continued to feign innocent, "I know. It was a long run while it lasted."

"Nothing happens in this village, or on this island, without your father, or I, hearing about it." Unfer replied with a hint of annoyed joy in his voice at first, but then softened back down as he walked towards him, and stopped at the side of his desk, nearly five feet from the boy. "So, let's talk." He paused for dramatic effect, "… about that dragon."

Hiccup shrugged as his grin never faded either, "Okay, so what do you wanna talk about? The Volcanoback? I'm pretty sure it'll be an easy win. Though personally, I think Astrid's got it in the bag."

"Actually… that's not the dragon I was talking about." This caused Hiccup's confidence to fane away as his expression went from confident to nervous. Unfer then looked to the desk as he scanned it for a moment, continuing, "I was talking about a certain dragon. A dragon that is, or was, the most elusive and mysterious of them all. A dragon whose size and speed were unknown. A dragon, that was said to be the embodiment of lightning and death. A dragon… no one as ever seen before…" and then he reached for the sketch of Toothless, studying it for a moment, and then showed it to Hiccup, "… until you did."

At that very moment, the confidence that dwelled within Hiccup's face and voice, dropped increasingly. His voice then showed his fear as he tried to convince Unfer, "Oh gods. Unfer, please… don't… I mean, please…"

"It's alright, Hiccup," Unfer stated as he put the picture down and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder to reassure him. "I know that you're only young; making mistakes and such," his voice full of understanding at that moment. But then his tone became serious, as did his face, "But the friendship is forbidden in this village." this caught Hiccup's attention, as he looked fearful to Unfer as he went on, "And if the village found out, they would hunt the Night Fury down and you'd be banished forever from this place."

"Wh-What am I supposed to do?" Hiccup asked for an answer, almost pleading for it.

Unfer, smirking at the boy's pleas for answers, gave him the ultimatums, "Well… if I were you, I would only have the two options: One: you can end your friendship with the dragon, and slay the Nightmare in front of everyone, thereby taking your place as a Viking and proving to everyone that you're not a liability. Or Two: you can runaway with the Night Fury and never return to this place. Ever." a moment of silence past over them, as those words hung deep into Hiccup's head. With that done, Unfer walked out of the shop, but not before he stopped and turned to Hiccup.

"Oh, and Hiccup…" he called out, getting the boy's attention, suspecting he would say something dramatic. But instead, he shrugged and complimented, "… nice helmet."

And with that, he left, leaving the boy's troubled thoughts to swamp his mind.

* * *

**That Night**

**Hofferson Residence**

* * *

The Hofferson was much like the Haddock's home, though they weren't the chief's home at all. But like all the houses all around the village, it too was just as new as the village. The Hoffersons, next to the Haddocks, were the toughest dragon fighting Vikings from here on around in the Hairy Hooligan Vikings tribe. To this, their house was almost as strong and tall as the chief's. it was also the only home that didn't have the Man of the House, for as he died in battle not from dragons, but foreign forces on a raid out in the sea once. So on that, only Astrid and her mother, Ashlin Haddock, were all that lived in the house.

In the bathroom, in what appeared to be a young teen girl's room, the lights were lit, the door was locked and a pile of familiar clothing was on the ground next to the sink and cabinet. In a glass shower booth connected to the bathtub, a slender shadow was seen leaning near the shower heard, letting the water hit the figure. After what felt like a few minutes, the water stopped as the door opened slightly to grab one of the white towels nearby.

The door opened up and out stepped Astrid, wrapped in the towel she had gotten. She took another towel and dried her unbraided hair off as she stepped towards the mirror. If there was ever any doubt of how beautiful Astrid was compared to the other Viking teen girls, this was proof of that. Her body was physically fit; a slim and petite figure befitting that of a girl like her. Her skin was flawless, almost porcelain, with only small minor scars that didn't show very well. She was more than a Viking… if any girl-crazy guy was around, they would say she was a goddess.

At this point, she looked a little gloom for wear, considering what was going on through her head. Tomorrow was the final test, that would determine who would get the honor of killing the Monstrous Nightmare by the end of the week. About two months ago, she had it in the bag; she was the top dragon slayer student in the arena. But then all of a sudden, that toothpick of a boy, Hiccup, suddenly upstaged her like that. Her anger was reflected in the mirror as she was seething with frustration; frustration that couldn't have been washed away from the soothing waters that was pumped from the showers.

Furious, and without thinking, she smacked her balled up fist into the mirror, shattering it a bit. But that didn't stop the frustration seeping into her as she slumped to the floor, on her knees. She let her head hang down a bit, almost remembering a silent promise she had made… a promise to her late father. She had sworn that she would be stronger than any Viking ever, stronger than the Haddocks could ever be. But all that was slowly slipping away, as she was being beaten by the boy she had once protected in the ring. The boy that she had always protected since childhood, believing that he would be their chief someday. And when she thought that he would never show any sign of strength… he suddenly shows up with it, over staging her in front of everybody in Berk.

Then, much to her surprise… she felt warm tears coming down her face, as she whimpered. "Wh-why…?" she asked herself, almost pleading the silence to answer her question, "I'm supposed to be… to be strong! So why… am I… losing to him… of all people?"

* * *

**The Next Day**

**Later that Afternoon**

**Dragon Training Coliseum**

* * *

It was the final match between Hiccup and Astrid. For the past week, Hiccup has somehow managed to make himself up the scoreboard, putting him at second place behind the female Viking in the class rankings. This placed the two of them in this one final session, and the winner for today would be the one to receive the glory of taking his or her first Dragon life in the arena, in front of the entire village. Namely, they would face against the mighty dragon, the Monstrous Nightmare. Though Astrid, despite her emotional and private outburst at her home, she hoped deep down she would be able to be the one to do it.

Even with everyone present, the two would be having a huge weight on their shoulders with all the eyes watching them both. For Astrid, she planned to win this. Her stubborn attitude wouldn't give up to some underdog. From the beginning, she believed she was the favorite to win, and she intend to live up to that.

The two were pitted up against the full-grown Volcanoback, and boy was it hungry and irritated. The battle course for today was a simple layout of barricades, forcing them both to face the dragon down in direct combat. Not that either one was complaining or anything; it only made it easier for Astrid to take it down. However, Hiccup, now wearing his Viking helmet remained hidden for now, waiting for the perfect chance to strike, or at least avoid the dragon.

The Volcanoback's rock-hard shell back would make it hard for their blades to penetrate. But if she could just get it to reveal its soft underbelly in range, a sufficient strike to its heart should do the trick. One thing was sure, Astrid wasn't going to take any chances today.

Leaping from cover to cover, she bumped right into Hiccup, who was hiding behind his battle gauntlet in shield mode, and a newly forged sword she had never seen, held at the ready. Shoving his shield down, she glared straight into his eyes and shot out, "Stay the hell out of my way." She then leaned in close to his face, their lips nearly brought together, but not close enough as she growled, "I'm winning this."

Not bothering to wait for a reply, she vaulted over him, and prepared to get into position to attack the Volcanoback.

Hiccup nervously smiled at her retreating form as he started to get up, "Good, good. By all means."

He stood up, looking up to the cheering crowd, almost unsure of what to do. If he defeated this dragon, then he would have to go into the Finals, killing the Monstrous Nightmare in front of everyone. If he did and didn't kill the dragon, everyone would grow suspicious, find Toothless and Draco, and then kill them both. As he looked up at the crowd, he spotted the elder and his father, watching over him with pride, as any father would for their child. And then he saw Unfer, knowing full well what was to come. Hiccup sighed in defeat, knowing full well what he had to do now.

Astrid rolled to each barricade, going unnoticed by the Volcanoback as it jumped from one end to the next. Its organic rockets propelling it off the ground with every bound. She leaned against an intact low wall, slinging her axe to her chest, looking over the side of the barricade, keeping an eye on the dragon.

"This time…" she told herself, her voice filled with certainty that Hiccup wouldn't beat her this time, "This time, for sure!"

Her steely determination now strong, Astrid immediately threw herself over the wall, yelling out a battle cry as she charged to defeat the dragon.

To her shocked horror and disbelief, before she could even swing her axe into the beast, she heard a loud thud, and the Volcanoback collapsed on the ground, completely unconscious. The one who delivered the victory, was none other than Hiccup, standing sheepishly next to it and sheepishly and nervously smiling at Astrid.

As the crowd roared with excitement over the victory, her mind went totally blank at this sight. The realization then sank into the female Viking like a tsunami, crashing down on her ego and sanity. She completely lost it as she stomped on the ground, shouting, "NO!" She then began to swing her axe around, swatting the air as she cursed aloud, dropping her inhibitions and venting out all her anger, "NO! NO! YOU SON OF A HALF-TROLL, RAT-EATING, SLUDGE-BUCKET! " … right in front of the entire village.

How was this possible? She had trained so hard for this, only in the end to get beaten by _him_, of all people. The cheers were all deafening, and they only added to Astrid's frustration; a blinding roar of noise.

After his 'victory' against the Volcanoback, Hiccup strode onward out of there. "Okay… so later."

"Whup," Gobber stated as he snatched the boy with his hook hand before he could get out of there. "Not so fast, Hiccup. The Elder's about to decide."

"Right now? Uh, I'm kinda late for…" he stated, trying to get out of there.

Unfortunately, he wasn't getting out that easily. "WHAT!" Astrid shouted, as she walked up to him, and jammed her axe's blunt end at his throat, infuriated and demanding an answer, "Late! For what. Exactly?"

Both Gobber and Hiccup looked pretty spooked at the young Viking's outburst, and looked to each other. Gobber, silently wishing Hiccup 'good luck', backed away, as Hiccup did his best to cover it up. "Um… what indeed," Hiccup chimed in as he stepped back a bit, with a nervous smile on his face, "You know, forget about it. I was just joking; there's nothing late for…"

"Oh no, you don't," Astrid nearly roared as she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. She yanked him close so they were almost six inches from each other as she yelled in his face, rage and anger seething from her eyes and voice. "I've had it with this mystery boy routine," she declared as her hold on him tightened and she nearly jabbed him in the chest iwht her finger, "You're gonna start telling me what's going…!"

"Quiet down, everyone. Quiet down," Stoick announced, causing the Viking girl to back away from Hiccup as he continued, "The Elder is about to decide."

The two were broke apart by Gobber, as they all looked to the Elder, who would decide the one to face the Nightmare. Astrid was hopeful that she would still get picked, considering she had enough points to still get the honor of killing the Nightmare. When Gobber pointed to her, the Elder looked to Astrid… and shook her head disapprovingly. Astrid's world started to crumble, as she couldn't believe it. Gobber couldn't believe it as well, as he cocked an eyebrow as he pointed to Hiccup… in which the Elder nodded approvingly with a smile.

For Hiccup, and Astrid, this had to have been a nightmare. Seething, she turned to Hiccup, as she gave him a look of utter hatred burning into her eyes. Hiccup flinched as he gulped, but was patted by Gobber as his smile couldn't have been brighter.

"You did it, Hiccup! You did it," Gobber cheered on the glad with great glee. "You get to kill the dragon!"

"Oh, I did it alright," Hiccup muttered, trying to get away from Astrid's gaze.

"That's my boy!" Stoick shouted in pride for his son.

Suddenly, he was swept up by his fans, as Hiccup tried to be happy by this. "Yeah! Great! I am so…"

* * *

**Next Chapter: Who Kills Dragons, and Who Befriends Them; A Romantic Flight and Deadly Discoveries pt.2**


	10. Romantic Flight n Deadly Discoveries pt2

**Author's Note: when I started writing the Romantic Flight part, I was not thinking of John Powell's Romantic Flight to the movie, but rather to Michael Bolton's I Can Go The Distance. Yeah, I know, it sounds weird, but the song's pretty cool.**

* * *

**How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Who Kills Dragons, and Who Befriends Them; A Romantic Flight and Deadly Discoveries pt.2**

* * *

**Later On**

**Toothless Canyon**

* * *

"Leaving?" a much distressed and equally confused Draco asked Hiccup, who was sitting down on one of the rocks, with Toothless eating some fish that he had brought over.

After the celebration of him being hauled out of the ring, Hiccup had easily gotten back to the canyon. Although he wanted to bring Syn and Fishlegs around, he just didn't have the heart to do so at this time. He had to talk to Draco directly as he needed a bit of alone time with the dragons. Unfer was right about one thing, as was Astrid, he had to make a choice, and he had to decide who's side he was on. Now… now he knew what choice to pick, and knew that he didn't belong on either side.

"Pretty much, yeah," Hiccup sighed heavily, regretting this choice now.

Draco, a bit understanding of the boy's plight, asked as he was a bit distraught on the choice anyway, "Well… where will you go? Eventually your own clan and your father'll be lookin' for you."

"I'm… not really sure," Hiccup answered as he stood up, pacing as he pondered aloud, "I'll probably go somewhere far away. A place that no one lives; I guess a place Toothless and I can live in peace where no one'll try and kill him."

Draco sighed heavily, as he truthfully explained, "Hiccup. Even though I applaud your resolve in not wishing to kill dragons at all, this isn't the right choice to make."

"Well, it's not a choice for me at all!" Hiccup shouted back, his voice filled with frustration and anger now more than ever. After seeing the look on Toothless's face, being shown in fear of Hiccup's outburst, his anger subsided. He sighed deeply, and rather saddened, until he finally turned away and calmly answered, "There are… too many complications to it. If they find out about the training I took…" and looked to the two dragons as he continued, "… they'll find out about you… and then…" He shook his head as he started to walk out of the canyon, preparing for the trip ahead of him.

As he walked away, Toothless looked to the young Viking in depression. He then looked to the elder dragon, in hopes for an answer to help his troubled friend. Draco took notice of the young dragon's silent cry for answers, and simply sighed heavily. He then reached down, and patted the young dragon on his head, until he answered, "He has to find his own answers, Toothless… even if he strays a bit from his destiny." He then looked to the boy's disappeared form, as he finished, "Only in remembering in the Code, can he find the answers."

* * *

**An Hour Later**

Hiccup had arrived back into the canyon, carrying with him a bag full of some things he and Toothless would need on their long trip. He had on his glove gauntlet, as well as his rider harness and shoulder guards. He made it true on his word that he was going to hightail it out of Berk before this Saturday. Though it was gonna be disappointing, for on Friday, there was going to be a big blowout party, full of food and dancing. If things had been a bit differently, he would have asked Astrid out to go there. But knowing full well she would turn him down, as well as her hatred for him, it was a no go. Now, as he walked on in, he had to get out of his village, and he and Toothless were going to get out of here.

"We're leaving," Hiccup shouted out, looking around for Toothless, and saw no signs of Draco. "C'mon, Toothless. Looks like you and I are gonna go on a vacation. Forever." seeing not a sight of Toothless, nor even Draco, he sighed heavily as he knelt down to one of the rocks. He set the bag down as he opened it for a moment, looking around making sure he had everything. And that's when he heard it…

_Scraaaaaatch…_

The sound of a rock being scraped against a steel blade to make it sharper, startled the young Viking boy. He immediately sprung up, only to look at the end of a half-moon double bladed axe. He nearly fell back, even moreso, as he saw who it was, sitting on the rock, sharpening the blade.

Astrid Hofferson. And boy, did she look a bit calm for an enraged girl.

"WHADDAFU… Uh, Astrid…" he managed to say, as he tried to straighten himself out, and stop the stuttering as best he could, "Ah-wah-what are you… ah… doing here? And with… an axe, no doubt?"

The girl lifted her axe and seeming satisfied, set the stone down then turned to face Hiccup. "I wanna to know what's going on." she said jumping down from the boulder, "No one just _gets_ as good as you do. _Especially_ you." She advanced on Hiccup who stepped back nervously, mostly looking at her axe. "Start talking." Astrid said sharply, "Are you training with someone?" Hiccup babbled out as he kept stepping back as Astrid kept advancing on him.

"T-training? N-No I…I uh…" Hiccup tried to say.

"Well, whatever it is, it better not involve _this_." Astrid muttered seizing him by the vest and looking at it distastefully.

"I…I…I know…" Hiccup stammered, "I know this looks really bad, but you see this is…uh…" The girl grabbed Hiccup by the back of his flight harness and shoulder guards, and yanked him down. Hiccup fell to the ground with a startled yelp.

This was done by a small growl that Astrid had heard, and looked in the direction of the trees. Curious, and without fear, she started to walk towards the sound. Hiccup saw this, and knew dead on, he couldn't let her find out about it.

He immediately got up, rushing forward to stop her before anything else happens. he grabbed her shoulders and tried to shield her view. "You're right! You're right… I'm through with the lies… I've been, uh… Making outfits! So, yeah, you got me, it's time everyone knew; drag me back, go ahead, here we go…"

Executing a flawless death grip on his wrist, Astrid twisted his arm away from her shoulder. The two heard a crack as Hiccup felt his shoulder was nearly dislocated, and he collapse to the ground, clutching his left shoulder in pain. "OW! Why would you DO that?"

"_That's_ for the lies…" She countered curtly, slamming her boot into his chest, and knocking the air out of him. She then adjusted her grip on the axe, let go and the butt of the weapon struck Hiccup right in the gut and bounced back into her hand, as she whispered with satisfaction in her voice, "… and _that's_… for everything else."

Then, suddenly, a low growl resonated around them, catching Astrid's attention to the other side of the lake. For a moment, all she saw was a darkened shape, but then it slowly made its way into the light, taking form. There, in a crouched pouncing position, and snarling angrily at her… was a Night Fury. Although she had never seen one before, there were rumors it was called that because it could blend into the night. And this creature's dark body could definitely blend into it.

Aw man that hurt…" He moaned turning around. Astrid gasped then tackled Hiccup to the ground.

"GET DOWN!" she shouted. Hiccup yelped again as her arm hit the exact same place the butt of her axe had earlier.

Toothless snarled, thinking she was going to hurt Hiccup, he charged right at her to protect him. Astrid leapt up to her feet holding her axe in a ready stance while Hiccup was still in the dirt slightly dazed.

"Run, Hiccup!" Astrid shouted to him, "RUN!" Toothless pounced, and she was about to swing her axe…

"NO!"

But Hiccup was faster, and much stronger than before. He sprang up from the ground rushed towards Astrid, grabbed the handle of her axe knocking her to the ground. They both landed on the grass, Hiccup threw the axe as far away as he could, then quickly turned standing between Toothless and Astrid. The dragon stopped, rearing up on his haunches, flapping his wings to keep his balance.

"No! No! It's okay. It's okay. She's a friend." Hiccup said holding his hands up, doing his best to stop the fighting between them both.

Toothless, giving him a look that read out 'but she tried to beat you up', and landed on all fours, though he was still growling suspiciously at Astrid.

Hiccup turned to face Astrid. Toothless stepped forward, getting his head between Hiccup's arm and torso. He put his other hand on his dragon's snout, trying to prevent Toothless from lunging at Astrid.

"It's alright." Hiccup said, "You just scared him."

"I scared _him_!" Astrid yelped as if Hiccup had gone completely insane, as she got back to her feet. But then froze, "Who… is _him_?"

Hiccup sighed, knowing full well that he had to explain this to someone else rather than Fishlegs or Syn. Sighing, he turned and introduced her to his first friend, "Astrid… this is Toothless." He then gestured to Toothless, "Toothless… this is Astrid." The Night Fury growled at her again this time bearing his fangs.

Astrid shook her head not believing what she was seeing. The turned and ran away into the forest. Only to slam face first into something, and fall back on her butt. She growled, rubbing her sore face as she glared and shouted, "Hey! Watch where you're…" But she stopped as soon as her eyes focused on what she slammed into.

The color Astrid's face nearly went bye-bye as she looked… at the biggest dragon claw she had ever seen. It then followed up to a massive dragon body, towering over her small form. From the looks of it, it was a thought-long extinct Golden Fleece Dragon. And it appeared to be… smiling at her.

Draco, surprised by the new guest, curtly smiled, and spoke to her, "Oh, hello, there. You must be a new friend. I… am Draco."

Astrid gave the dragon a look of horror on her face at him, and then turned to face Hiccup with the Night Fury. It was then that Hiccup could have sworn there was a hint of feeling betrayed in those eyes. Turning away, she dashed off in the direction of Berk; the two dragons and Viking boy merely looking at her retreating form.

"Dat dah dah! We're dead!" Hiccup said his shoulders drooping. Toothless rolled his shoulders briefly, before turning away nonchalantly,

"Whoa, whoa ,whoa!" Hiccup said noticing his dragon's retreating back, "Where do you think _you're_ going?"

As the two younglings were trying to figure things out, Draco looked at Astrid's retreating form…

* * *

**Not Far from the Canyon**

Astrid was running like crazy, just to get away from the canyon. She could believe this was happening. How was it even possible. Hiccup… in league with dragons! A Night Fury, and a long-extinct Golden Fleece… that could talk, no doubt. The fact that he had kept this a secret from his village was so… so…

Surreal.

A mixture of fear and desperation gripped at her, and all she could do was run for her life. She couldn't even believe whatever he did with those dragons was possible. Whatever he's doing, it's not right, and she had to stop him...

Just when she jumped off of one of the logs in her path, a large shadow fell upon her. But before she could figure out what was going on, she was scooped up by a large clawed hand, encaged in it. Draco had followed after her in the air, and was now carrying her back to the canyon.

At the sight of the ground falling away at her feet, all Astrid could do was to only scream in a mix of shock and fear. The wind howled past her ears, and combined with the heavy beating of scaly wings, her voice was drowned out.

"Ooooh Gods! Oh, shi…! Great Odin's Ghost! I'm only sixteen! I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND A BOYFRIEND! Please, oh, Gods no! NOOOOO-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…" she blurted out expletives and incoherent phrases as her legs dangled over nearly forty meters of thin air, flailing about, hopelessly looking for something solid to rest on.

She shut her eyes tightly, not daring to look down. She screamed so hard, that Draco swore, she would have torn her lungs apart. Her arms grappled at his large fingers; never mind that she was holding on to cold scales, she sure didn't want to die yet. Draco had reached the canyon, and immediately dropped her onto the largest tree ever, as she grabbed onto one of the branches. Then, using his weight as he landed, he bent down the tree a bit, allowing her to dangle what seemed to be about seventy feet.

Then suddenly, she heard a fast whoosh come from the right of her. She turned to look, and noticed the Night Fury perched atop, with the bastard riding comfortably on it. She shot Hiccup a threatening look, unsuccessfully trying to hide her fear, as she anxiously looked down. She tighten her grip, but she was too close to losing it, both physically and mentally.

But she sighed, as she looked to the dragon that held the tree, and whispered a plea, "Please, don't eat me."

"Ugh!" Draco sighed, as he complained, "Now, what makes you think dragons eat humans? Seriously, lass. Dragons don't eat humans! Who knows where they've been."

"Oh, now we're being squeamish?" Hiccup asked, "You ate Elgamore the Merciless, you hypocrite."

"I merely chewed that man in self-defense," Draco defended. "But I never swallowed."

"HICCUP!" Astrid finally shouted, getting both their attention. "GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!"

"You have to give me a chance to explain." Hiccup pleaded.

Astrid swung hand over hand towards the tree trunk, "I, am not listening to _anything_ you have to say!"

"Then I won't speak." Hiccup said, "Just let me show you." He waited, but she turned away, huffing at him, and not wanting to talk to him.

Then it was Draco's turn as he got into Astrid's center of vision as he explained, "Now, look, young lady! The lad's offering to help you down, as well as explain his reasons for doing so. And I'm willing to tolerate your attitude, but if you want to, _I'll_ set you down." He pointed to the axe on the ground as he stated, "Your axe is over there, and if you want, I'll fight you and we'll allow the 300 year fracas reach its final stupidity." but then his anger disappeared, as his calm demeanor returned, with a smile, "Or… you can let the boy show you the Alternative."

"Please, Astrid," Hiccup pleaded gently, catching the girl's attention.

When Astrid turned to look at him, she saw that he seemed genuinely concerned with that look of worry on his face, and sensing as she had no other choice, she reluctantly took the offer.

Astrid pulled herself up with a grunt on top of the branch as Hiccup held out his hand for her. Astrid reached for the dragon's side; Toothless growled at her warning her. If she tried anything, he would roll over and drop her. She just glared back at him, slightly annoyed and holding onto one of the saddle straps pulled herself upright. She looked down at Hiccup's hand and swatted it away. She hoisted herself onto his back behind Hiccup.

"Alright." She said once she righted herself in the saddle, "Now, get me down!"

"Toothless…" Hiccup said leaning forwards patting my on the neck, "Down. And be gentle, okay? It's her first time."

Toothless spread his wings out and the trio slowly rose up as the treetop unbent.

"See?" Hiccup said twisting around in the saddle, looking Astrid to reassure her, "Nothing to be afraid of."

He spoke too soon, as Toothless had on his face a mischievous grin.

Draco took notice of this as he stated, nervously to the boy, "Uh, Hiccup?"

"What's up, Draco?"

"Well, uh…"

But then suddenly, Toothless thrusted his wings down, and shot up towards the sky, at full speed.

Toothless thrusted his wings down and shot up towards the sky at full speed! Hiccup yelled in alarm and held onto the saddle while Astrid started screaming her head off and started to fall off.

Draco saw their forms disappear into the sky, until he spoke out, "That."

* * *

**Up in the Sky**

Hiccup did not expect this, neither did the frighten and screaming Astrid. All of a sudden, they were shot into the air at breakneck speed. Wings flapping furiously, Toothless drove them further and further towards the sky. The wind roars past their ears, as Astrid nearly fell off the saddle, but quickly she wrapped her legs around Hiccup's waist as she used this to right herself back up. Yanking on the harness, Hiccup attempted to command him to stop. But it was no use, and he couldn't switch gears now, as doing so would only cause all of them to fall out of the sky.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup shouted, "What is wrong with you! Bad Dragon!" he scolded. Toothless leveled out just before Astrid actually could fall off, and she started squirming around on the saddle trying to get a handhold on Hiccup. Hiccup started laughing totally embarrassed.

"He…He's he's not usually like this!" Hiccup said, trying to reassure the now freaked out Astrid, who gripped at him, making sure she wouldn't fall off.

Suddenly, Toothless rolled to the right.

"Oh no…" Hiccup groaned knowing what was coming next. They fell back first and Astrid started screaming again as they plunged into the ocean and burst out!

"Toothless what are you doing!" Hiccup shouted as they bounced across the ocean's surface, "We need her to _like_ us!" Toothless then climbed higher and higher into the clouds and started spinning.

"And now…he's spinning…" Hiccup said while Astrid kept screaming, "Thank you for nothing _you useless reptile_!"

Toothless went into a wild dive tucking his wings close to his body to increase speed.

"Okay! Okay I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Astrid yelped, on the verge of tears, cutting loose from her usually serious, hardy and proud nature. She slung her arms around Hiccup's chest, burying her face in an attempt to hide her sights from this horrifying experience. "Just… please, get me off this thing!"

Almost sensing her fear, Toothless looked back to see Astrid, clinging to Hiccup in fear. Knowing full well she had enough, Toothless regained control over himself, extending his wings and leveling themselves out just mere meters above the ground. Calmly, he slowly carried the two up in a steady, gradual flight towards the setting sun. Cruising along a warm current of wind, the experience was worlds apart from the thrill ride a couple of minutes ago.

Hiccup exhaled, letting out a sigh of relief. Astrid still hadn't let go, but deep down, he was hoping she wouldn't. To be honest, he wished this moment will never end. Her arms wrap perfectly around his chest, hands grabbing tightly to his harness. His shoulder seemed to be a nice fit for her head, which now was currently pressed against his neck. In truth, this may have been the best moment of his life.

"Hey, Astrid," Hiccup gently spoke out, "You can open your eyes now."

The squall that blasted her cheeks turns onto a gentle, calm breeze all of a sudden. She still held on tightly to Hiccup, frightened that if she let go, she would fall off the dragon to a messy death.

After a few seconds, she slowly open her eyes, releasing her death grip on Hiccup. Squinting as the light from the orange sun casts across my face, she gasped, taken aback by the magnificent sight. The sky was painted in warm hues of red, yellow and purple. As if sponges used to soak up excess dye that Mother Nature used for her masterpiece on the sky, the sporadic clouds have transformed from white cotton balls to multi-colored puffs streaked with pink and orange floating amongst a finished canvas.

She was definitely dead, and in heaven. Never before have she, nor anyone else from Berk, seen such beauty. This was a whole new world for her altogether.

The dragon slowly made his ascent. However, this time it is graceful, and exhilarating in a good way. She subconsciously placed her hands back onto Hiccup's shoulders, still enthralled by the brilliance before them both. She removed her legs from around Hiccup's waist, blushing at the realization that they had been in that awkward position all this time. She felt him relax under her touch, becoming more confident, less tense.

The cool wind caresses her skin, magically releasing all tension that had built up. Letting her eyes wander, she took in this new fantastic point of view. She lost herself completely to the serenity of the moment; there was no one to tell me no, or where to go, or say that she was only dreaming.

They reached the cloud line, and the dragon flies parallel to it, causing the thin layer of suspended moisture to just brush over their heads. In their wake, the clouds form intricate geometric shapes. As a little girl, fascinated with classic princess tales, she always imagined this feeling; but ever since she started training to become a warrior, those fleeting desires were tucked aside to make way for the bloody reality of the battlefield against raiders or Dragons. This evening, it seems that the little girl in her has reawaked, and she couldn't help but reach out with one hand.

For the first time in a long while, a wide, genuine smile formed across not only Hiccup's, but Astrid's face as her hand drew shapes in the fluffy clouds. Never have either of them felt so at peace before. Giggling as the moisture runs down her bare arm, she extended the other one, to let it enjoy the same tingling sensation. Both hands above my head, she closed her eyes to fully savor this feeling. Hiccup took notice of this, and let a small smile come across his face, in seeing Astrid like never before.

The dragon took the two teens higher, bursting through the layer of clouds. The dying rays of sunlight reflect and refract through the clouds, projecting a stunning visual show of lights and colors on the screen that was the twilight sky. Both Hiccup and Astrid's heads were permanently locked in position, eyes glued to the dancing rainbows.

* * *

**That Night**

Night had fallen and the stars were out and the moon shining brightly making the clouds below them appears as newly fallen snow. The lightshow slowly faded away with the setting of the sun, to reveal the stars dotting the dark night. It was an indescribable feeling; soaring, tumbling and freewheeling through this endless diamond sky. This really was a whole new world for both Hiccup and Astrid. She didn't dare close her eyes, and neither did he; there was a hundred thousand things to see. Holding their breath, the two could only expect it to get better.

And it did.

Fading away like the curtains before a Broadway musical, the clouds reveal yet another pleasant surprise. Sitting on the horizon, sparkling like a crystal model, was Berk. Lit by room lights and torches from guard posts, the island village formed a conglomeration of fiery diamonds in an intricate arrangement, gems among the darkness of the darkened ocean.

Astrid silently gasp softly, and let her arms wrap around Hiccup once more, while a warm, fuzzy feeling consumes her as well as him. Hiccup, a little surprised by this, turned his eyes to her, though not making eye contact, and turned back in front to steer. And then to make this a more unexpected, she rested her head on his shoulder, smiling as they both took in the spectacular, breathtaking scene in front of them. They flew past the guardian god statues of Berk and Toothless banked left and climbed higher into the air soaring over the ocean.

Astrid looked up for a moment, and saw Hiccup as she never saw him before. She never noticed this previously, but Hiccup had grown up. While he hadn't lost the features of his childhood, and may have grown muscle, his face had become more… defined. Maybe it was the glow of the stars, but he actually looked handsome for once. Not strikingly handsome; just good-looking, with an assuring face that said 'I'll be there for you, no matter what.'

At that realization, Astrid's face reddened at that thought. Sighing against the warmth of his body, she hugged him closer to me. He had come a long way since their childhood days. Smiling in contentment, she closed her eyes and relished the moment.

Maybe there was more to him than meets the eye. Like a shooting star, the two had come so far. But for Astrid… now. She couldn't go back to where she used to be…

"Alright," she sighed, breaking the long silence between them, during their romantic flight. "I've got to admit. This is pretty cool. It's… amazing."

Looking at the dragon… No. looking at Toothless… she gave him a warm smile, "_He's_ amazing…." And lightly petted him behind the neck, earning a small smile from the Night Fury.

"He sure is," Hiccup stated as he sighed, smiling to his friend, who smiled back at him.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Who Kills Dragons, and Who Befriends Them; A Romantic Flight and Deadly Discoveries pt.3**


	11. Romantic Flight n Deadly Discoveries pt3

**How to Train Your Dragon: The Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Who Kills Dragons, and Who Befriends Them; A Romantic Flight and Deadly Discoveries pt.3**

* * *

**Back in the Night Sky**

* * *

The two Viking teenagers continued to soar above the ocean while on Toothless. Hiccup couldn't help but let a small smile grow onto his face. Seeing Astrid right next to him, this reminded him of their childhood days; even though they had not been friends, the two used to be so close to each other. She was always so strong, always the better one of the two of them. She was the one who always had to protect him, rescue him from trouble. In his eyes, Hiccup was the weight on her shoulders.

But… ever since Draco had put him through that training, Hiccup didn't want it to stay that way. Now, he tried his best, but it always ended up the same way. Eventually she distanced herself from him; he pretty much understood why, and he didn't complained about it. In truth, he wanted her to seek out her own happiness without being burdened by a dead weight like himself. And now, when he saw her cry back then, it made him hurt so much inside, because Hiccup didn't know what to do to make her feel better. All he could do was to offer a shoulder for her to cry on. Under her tough exterior, she really was just a girl who wanted someone to love her.

The more he learned about the dragons, the more Hiccup wanted to change the world, such that it didn't hurt anyone else anymore. Dragon or Human alike. At that moment, Hiccup made a silent promise to himself. That he would always be there for his friends: Toothless, Fishlegs, Syn… He then looked to Astrid from the corner of his eye, and back in front, as he silently promised yet again. He would always be there for them… for her. Because he… he…

They continued flying quietly along, with only the steady beat of Toothless' wings against the wind. Finally, Astrid broke the silence with a whispered, "Thank you… Hiccup."

Hiccup was stunned by that, as he looked to her and asked, "For what?"

"Nevermind," Astrid replied, with a smile on her face. But that smile disappeared, as a thought plagued her mind, in which it was brought up. "So what now?" The question lingered in the air like an axe waiting to drop, despite her soft, soothing voice. Hiccup's shoulders slumped, despair taking over once again. In truth, he had hoped to get away from it, but now he realized that running away wouldn't solve anything. But that didn't mean he had to like the idea at all.

"Hiccup, your final test is tomorrow… you know you're going to have to…" She stopped herself as she looked at Toothless. She pulled in closer to Hiccup as she whispered it into his ear, "…kill a dragon."

Choking, Hiccup replied, dejection in his voice, "Don't remind me…"

Suddenly, Toothless's eyes shot open, and his ears twitched erratically. Almost as if his ears acted as some kind of radar system, as he picked up a strange clicking and purring sound. Toothless suddenly veers sharply to the right. Astrid tensed up, grip intensifying yet again, as she was a bit startled, but Hiccup remained calm in order to ensure he could steer, even while Toothless led.

The trio entered into a fog so dense, not even Hiccup or Astrid together could see beyond five meters. "Toothless… What's happening?" Hiccup asked, seeing his friend unable to control himself in the flight, as if being pulled to something.

Ears twitching, neck jerking in various directions, Toothless weaved left and right, as if avoiding invisible pursuers. Out of nowhere, a large shadow zipped past the trio. Both Astrid and Hiccup quickly identify its features; it was a Monstrous Nightmare, possibly more older, due to the enlarged spiked fins on the tail and back, as well as the numerous horns on its head. Astrid recognized it as well, and the two of them crouched forward, bracing themselves against Toothless. Hiccup's pulse quickened so much, he was afraid the other dragons may have heard it. Astrid's heavy, nervous breath against my ear; it nearly tickled the boy, if he wasn't a little nervous about the situation. Toothless swerved to avoid a collision, but banked in the opposite direction almost immediately as a Nadder suddenly burst through the darkness.

As the mist started to clear up just a bit, Hiccup gasped in alarm at the surrounding view. More and more dragons were appearing out of the fog, forming hundreds of black, ominous shadows and silhouettes. The growls and screeches were deafening along with the roar of wings. All sorts of dragons were present in this massive flock: Zipplebacks, Gronkles, Nadders, Volcanobacks, Nightmares, and only a few unknown flown close to one another. The feeling of claustrophobia began to creep up on the trio.

"What… What's going on," Astrid's wavering voice gave away the tension and fear she was experiencing.

She looks at Hiccup nervously, searching for an answer. He couldn't give her none, he was just as clueless as she was about what is going on. The frustration at his own lack of situational awareness added to his already-high stress levels. He knew both of them wanted to get out of here alive, but even he couldn't convince Toothless to help escape.

"Toothless, you've got to get us out of here…", Hiccup whispered to Toothless. Snorting, the Night Fury ignored him with a shake of his head, knocking aside his hand. A bead of sweat rolled down from Hiccup's forehead. This was getting to be a really sticky situation. Another Nightmare flew uncomfortably close to then, and it was then that the teens noticed an object in its claws… a dead camel.

"By Odin…" Hiccup whispered in a gasp, looking all around, it turned out all of them have some sort of livestock or dead carcass in their claws or jaws, "It looks like they must be hauling in their kill."

Astrid gave him a look of desperation. He could tell what she was thinking, even as she asked, "What does that make us?"

Hiccup noticed, as did Astrid, one of the brownish green Zipplebacks look at them, and sneered at the two. Hiccup gulped for a moment as he shrugged, "Uninvited dinner guests, I guess?"

Perhaps it was because Toothless was a Night Fury, the deadliest and most feared of the dragons, that they hadn't been attacked by the others yet. Cold stares were piercing all around them, the hairs on the back of their necks, bristling under the gaze of dragons unfamiliar to them both. Astrid scooted closer to Hiccup, trying to get as close as possible, her arms shifting over his torso.

Without warning, all the dragons initiated a sharp dive. A short yell of surprise escaped them both, as Toothless picked up speed, while leveling out before they hit the ground. Swerving to avoid rock formations that protruded out of the ground, Toothless glided smoothly through the maze, as if he had known this path for a long time. The trio, as well as the whole Dragon Flock, eventually reached a large, smoking fissure in the ground, and all the dragons disappeared into the darkness. Even before they entered, Hiccup could feel the heat from within the crack, as if it were a gateway into Valhalla itself.

Through the proverbial Gates of Viking Hell, both Hiccup and Astrid noticed the change in atmosphere; the cold, melancholic environment of the Inferno was suddenly replaced by the red-hot fumes and crimson glowing flames of Inferno. In every nook and cranny, there were dragons. Hiding in cracks, hanging on walls, perching on overhangs; they were everywhere, hundreds, maybe even thousands of them. In some sections of the cave, some dragons were carefully nursing groups of eggs that had yet to be hatched. And those that had already hatched; little baby versions of the dragons that played with the adults and with each other.

The realization struck Hiccup like a hammer onto an anvil… this cave was their nest, their stronghold. The Dragon's Nest.

"What my dad wouldn't give to find this," Hiccup stated, completely amazed by what he and Astrid were looking at.

Toothless silently landed on a ledge and hid behind a boulder, melting into the shadows. Hiccup heaved a sigh of relief, as he petted his dragon on the neck, "Thanks, buddy."

Toothless, Astrid, and Hiccup leaned from the side of the boulder; their heads peeked out over the edge, quietly observing the dragons. Strange, every single one of them cast their catch down into the smoky crevasse. None of them even kept any food for themselves. None of the youngling dragons even got a smidge of their kill to feed them. They just came in, throw the food 'down the well', and found a comfortable spot.

The irony of the situation didn't sit well with Hiccup, "Well, it's satisfying to know that all our food is being dumped down a hole…"

"Why aren't they eating any of it?" Astrid asked as she cocked an eyebrow, "They're not even giving any food to the hatchlings."

"Well, they've got to be feeding something," Hiccup replied. "You don't throw food down a hole full of lava for no reason."

As if to answer the teens' question, something monstrous happened. A small, staggering Gronckle caught their attention. Buzzing over to the smoky chasm, it regurgitated a single, small Red Snapper fish. Seemingly pleased with itself, it reached behind its ear, scratching a spot there, before attempting to flutter away.

A deep, rumbling growl sound from the depths of the abyss, causing the ground everyone stood on to shake. The entire cavern was drowned in a resounding silence. The Gronckle, who was hovering, heard that was well, and gulped at this. Suddenly, a massive, grey-red reptilian head burst forth from the smoke; its colossal jaws crashed mercilessly onto the Gronckle, swallowing it whole. The beast was reminiscent of dinosaur-like qualities: its head resembled a T-Rex, while the back of its skull was armored by coral-shaped plates. Its blue reptilian eyes scowered all around the cavern, earning fear into the hearts of all the dragons all around them.

The two humans froze in terror, as the rest of the dragons cowered into the darkness.

"What… is that thing?" Astrid's petrified whisper hung in the air; another question Hiccup didn't have an answer to.

Hiccup nearly froze in his tracks, but noticed something about the leviathan dragon's mouth. At the right side of the beast's maw, three teeth were missing from its upper jaw, as well as a nasty looking scar on it.

But that thought was put aside, as Hiccup and Astrid nearly backed away in fear. The massive dragon crawled upward, slowly descending upon all the other dragons with its shadow. Both Viking teens thought they had been spotted… but they weren't. as the Leviathan dragon lifted itself upward, and supported its body with its huge front black clawed front legs. The two teens and Night Fury, both looked up, as they heard the massive dragon let out a pleased growling purr. The two looked upward…

And spotted a cloaked man, standing on one of the cliffs, and petting the massive nose to the massive dragon. Hiccup couldn't believe what he was seeing, nor did Astrid: one small human, had actually tamed such a massive beast such at this, and it responded to him like any other pet would. The leviathan stopped and snarled, sniffing at the air. It was clearly evident that the dragon now knew that there was another smell, unlike its master.

"Alright, bud, we're getting out of here," Hiccup whispered, looking rather distraught.

The leviathan's nostrils twitch and its snout jerks in the direction to where Toothless hid, along with Hiccup and Astrid, having discovered their location.

"NOW!"

On Hiccup's cue, Toothless launched himself off the ledge, just as the Godzilla-sized dragon's large fangs the size of Zealanders, closed around the boulder. Even though it was after Toothless, the giant dragon threw the other dragons into a confused frenzy. Deafening screeches and roars filled the cave, as the dragons took flight to escape the dominating behemoth's wrath.

Angry and frustrated that it couldn't get to the Night Fury carrying the two humans, the beast thrashed its head about, roaring so loudly the vibrations caused some parts of the cave to crumble. In its rage, it consumed yet another few dragons unlucky enough to be in range of its jaws.

Shooting out of the fissure with the speed his species were famed for, Toothless flew straight towards the night sky, rapidly leaving the nest behind them, letting it fade into the horizon. The adrenaline subsided, and once again, Hiccup notice Astrid's arms wrapped snugly around his waist.

"Hey… are you alright?" He asked her deeply concerned, "I'm sorry if you got scared, or hurt… Urk!" In the middle of his sentence, she suddenly tightened her grip, knocking the air out of him. Suffocating, he attempt to turn around, shocked.

"Idiot! What makes you think I was scared…" she fumed out at first, but then turned her face away, not looking at him eye to eye, "…well, yeah, maybe just a little…? No! I wasn't scared!" She released him slightly.

It was at that last sentence, that Hiccup got a good look. And a little smile creeps across his face when he noticed her blushing face. A low growl from Toothless, sounding like a chuckle, caused the redness to intensify.

She really was a girl after all. 'But… I guess that's what makes her so cute,' Hiccup thought.

The fellow who petted the Giant behemoth, stepped outside, watching the Night Fury get out of there as fast as he could.

* * *

**Later On**

**Back at Toothless's Canyon**

"Astrid saw you guys?" a distraught Syn asked Draco, her eye nearly bulged out her head. "Are you serious?"

"Pretty much," Draco answered her. He was pretty much sitting down, not caring about the situation, when Syn and Fishlegs had arrived. Apparently, Astrid had interrogated the two, and much ear pinching from Astrid to Syn later, she had slipped out the location of Hiccup's hideout. Bu the Elder Dragon had ensured the teens that it would be alright, "Though I doubt she'll tell anyone about this."

"Oh, really?" she shot back, a little infuriated about the dragon's calmness. "This is Astrid Hofferson, the toughest girl on the island of Berk, we're talking about here. She's the kind of girl that kills first and talks never. Trust me. If it took this long for them to get back, then maybe…"

"Did you see the size of that thing? I mean, it eats other dragons! IN ONE GULP!"

Their conversation ended when they heard that familiar voice: Hiccup. The two teens and elder dragon looked up to see the trio flying downward, while Astrid was holding on to Hiccup. A most unfamiliar sight to behold at any seen at all. The elder Dragon looked down at Syn and asked with a cocked eyebrow and a know-it-all smirk, "So… kill first and talk later, eh?"

"Oh, shut up," Syn huffed.

"Survival points have reached 100," Fishlegs chimed out, "The quest fellowship has a barbarian for their group."

As they landed, Astrid was the one to put two and two together, "Well, it totally makes sense now; It's like a giant beehive. They're the workers, and that's their King… It controls them!"

"No. it doesn't control them. _He_ does," Hiccup corrected her as he hopped off, and helped her down. "That guy in the cloak controls them through that Giant Dragon."

"Ah, you mean the Red Death," Draco stated, getting their attention.

It wasn't long until Hiccup processed that last statement, and nearly went gawk-eyed, as he pointed out the direction they came from, "THAT WAS THE RED DEATH? YOU DIDN'T MENTION IT WAS HUGE!"

"You never asked about it," Draco shrugged.

"Let's find your dad, we have to tell him and the council," Astrid pointed out as she was about to get to the entryway.

However, she was beaten to it when Hiccup ran after her, halting her in her steps. "No!" He blurted out as he lightly grabbed her arm and explained his reason, "No, if we tell them, they… they'll find out about Draco and Toothless! And they'll… they'll just kill them without letting us explain." He sighed, looking down as he lightly shook his head. He then turned away, rubbing his temples, "Astrid, we have to think this through carefully…"

Syn and Fishlegs both looked to see what the outcome of this would be, not wishing to get involved in this as they watched it go on.

"What? Hiccup, we just discovered the Dragon's Nest. The very thing that we've been looking for ever since we came to Berk." Giving him a look of utter disbelief, Astrid calmly stated to him, and slowly started to yell, incredulity in her voice, "And now that we found it, you want to keep it a secret? For what? To… to protect your _pet dragon_ and _Dragon Mentor_? Are you serious?"

The three other teens, and the two dragons looked to Hiccup, awaiting to see what the outcome would be. Finally, Hiccup made a move and readied himself to answer. Looking back at her, he firmly stood his ground, with a serious face. There was no way he would let any harm come to Toothless, nor Draco.

"Yes," was all he said to her.

It was then, at that one word, that Astrid slightly broke; she let the argument dissolve into nothingness. The look in his emerald eyes pierced through the stone cold wall, she had built around her heart. Clutching it, filling it with understanding.

It was from that one word, Astrid Hofferson had realized how much the Night Fury and the Golden Fleece had meant to him; they were probably his best friends. No… his _first_ true friends in ages. To take both dragons… Toothless and Draco... away from him would be tantamount to murdering the only thing that Hiccup had to live for, removing his only goal in life. She realized this decision wasn't hers to make; it was his, and she had to respect that.

She, along with Fishlegs and Syn had all realized something even more important. This wasn't the Hiccup they normally saw everyday in Berk. The clumsy, careless Hiccup; this was a Hiccup that had been hidden from the rest of the village, the true brave soul encased in the boy that everyone mercilessly tried to protect and shelter. But in that shell of a boy, he has matured into something that far surpassed any of them. And it was through Toothless's, Draco's, and now their eyes that they finally saw it.

Hiccup nearly sighed in defeat as he turned around, not sure if he wanted to meet Astrid's gaze anymore. That is until she spoke up again.

"I… I don't…" Hiccup, not sure on how to answer that question.

Syn, feeling like she should say something, turned to Draco as she asked, "What do you think, big guy?"

The mighty Golden Fleece thought about it, and knew that it would probably have to help in the boy's decision. And so, Draco looked to the four teenagers, and the Night Fury, as he sighed, "I had hoped to tell you this tale until it was time, but I guess it's now." the mighty dragon took a deep breath, and began his tale, "Long ago, before the time of Man, Dragons ruled over the earth. But once Man was young and the Dragon already old, the Wisest of the Seven High Dragons that governed us, saw great potential in them, as he befriended one. A human named Arthur. With this discovery, the two gathered together all the Dragons and humans, and each showed them the unbreakable bond that the two forged together, as well as the strength that they gained from one another. With this realized, they created the Old Code of Avalon, the reminder of the Bond between the Two, creating in effect, the Dragon Riders." He then looked up at the constellation named Draco, as he pointed, "And at the moment of both Arthur's and the High Dragon's death… the night became alive with those stars. And thus was born the Dragon's Heaven."

"A dragon's heaven?" Astrid asked, too stunned by this as she looked up at the stars.

"Yes," Draco answered, but continued, "But unlike Aesgard, not all dragons are admitted to this shining place. For us, we have to earn our right to be there. Otherwise, our souls will disappear and be lost for all eternity, as if we never were." Draco then sighed as he looked to the four teens and young Night Fury in disarrayed sadness, "But… not all humans or dragons abided to the Code, and war broke out between the two. The Dragons, who swore to the oath with all their hearts, were slaughtered the most, leaving humans to drive us to near extinction. Being the last one of my race, I had to do something before the Nest I took care of for the past three hundred years since coming here was all wiped out. And by some miracle, one day thirty years ago… a young Viking that had been outcast, was washed ashore our island." He then looked to the teens as he seemed a bit more composed, and serious, "It was this boy that I had taught all the dragon's secrets and handling techniques, as I did you, Hiccup. So that he and I would help reunite Man and Dragon, and ensure the dragons of Berk a place with them among our ancient leaders." But then he sighed as he finished, "But alas, that did not come to pass, for what I thought to be my people's salvation became both my sin, and their damnation."

It was then that Hiccup had figured it all out, and looked to Draco as he stated the asnwer. "It was him," he said aloud, a look of shock came to his face as he looked to Draco, as did the others, "That guy in the cloak's the one that betrayed you."

Draco sighed sadly as he nodded, "Yes. The boy named Alvin, the one who had been banished from his village, was the one that had cost the only chance we had. Even then, I knew that his feeling of being betrayed by his people had caused a great darkness of hatred in his heart to have been born. But I thought if I could show him our secrets, giving him a newfound strength, he could have changed. but that didn't help at all; in the end, he wanted control of the entire nest to destroy the village that banished him. And so… I refused, and he disappeared for ten years."

"Then he came back," Astrid interrupted, "Along with that Red Death?"

Draco nodded, "With it he used the dragon to overpower me, and to give me a reminder," and touched the claw marks on his left shoulder. He then angrily shook his head as he nearly whispered, "By Odin, I was so naïve, back then."

Hiccup looked away, as he whispered to himself, "No more than I was."

"Okay," Astrid simply replied, indicating that she understood all their positions. He heaved a sigh of relief, but she didn't plan to leave it at that, "So what are you going to do?"

"Just… just give me until Saturday," Hiccup answered, his brow furrowed, as a plan started to form in his head. "I'll work something out…"

"Alright," she replied, but then suddenly, she delivered a swift punch to his arm, for disrupting the mood.

"Ow!" he cried out as he rubbed his sore arm.

"That's for kidnapping me," she simply said.

He turned to the dragons, a look of shock and bewilderment on his face. Draco merely shrugged as he looked away; while Toothless returned his puzzled gaze with a nonchalant shake of his head, and turned to take a drink from the small lake. Rubbing his arm, Hiccup looked back to her, completely unaware of her motives at the moment.

She then shyly looked away for a moment, as she brushed her left bangs away from her eye. And then grabbed his collar, and gave him a light peck on the cheek, withdrawing as quickly as she leaned forth, ending it as soon as it began.

"And that's for..." Astrid stated, but feeling a bit shy around him for some odd reason. Smiling, she just finished off the statement, "...for everything else."

But before he could say anything, or have Syn tease her on it, she sprinted off, blushing furiously. she stopped for a moment, turing to the corner of her eye at him once again. Hiccup had a dumbfounded look on his face, a surprised look on Fishlegs, a know-it-all smirk on Syn's, and Toothless and Draco both observing the scene amusingly. With that, she dashed off.

Hiccup smirked, lightly touching the part of his cheek to where she had kissed him at. Suddenly, Toothless snuck up next to him; the Night Fury's face was in bewilderment at the scene, almost curious about the kiss. He looked to Hiccup, breaking him out of his daze.

Stuttering, and a bit flustered, he shot out, "Ah, what are you looking at?" Toothless merely purred as he shrugged.

* * *

**Outside the Canyon**

When Astrid was sure that she was at a safe distance away, she brought her hands to her burning face, covering her eyes. Astrid's heart was beating faster than ever before; her breathing was heavy. She just couldn't believe she did that to Hiccup.

Her first kiss.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Dance in the Moonlight; the Enemy Reveals Itself**


	12. Im Not One of Them pt1

**Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter seems a bit short, but I thought a much sooner update was in order. So sorry for the cliff-hanger, but don't worry, you'll love what's coming next.**

**How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 12: I'm Not One of Them; Dragon and Viking United pt.1**

* * *

**Saturday**

**Dragon Training Coliseum**

**The Day of the Final Exam**

* * *

Today was the day of the final exam for those dragon trainers who had passed the tests. But today, it was Hiccup's final test: to kill the Monstrous Nightmare, in front of the entire village. Who were all present at this time; the entire village of Berk were all anxiously awaiting for this coming right of passage. And none could have ever been more happier, than Stoick, who stood atop the stadium, addressing the growing and roaring crowd.

"Well, I can show my face in public again!" Uproarious laughter fills the stands, the audience laughing along with the Viking chief, as he went on. "If somebody told me that in a couple of weeks, my son, Hiccup, would have gone from being, well… Hiccup… to passing out as the top Dragon Slaying, well, I would have tied him down to a mast and shipped him out to sea, for fear of having gone bloody mad! And you know it!"

While everyone laughed at that little joke, there was someone who wasn't laughing. Sitting on a bench in the hallway leading into the ring, Hiccup tried to get his game face on. Lately, he was trying to re-adjust his battle gauntlet at the moment; last night, after the celebration, he was stuck in the blacksmith's shop, working on a new feature to the glove. At that moment, he stopped to look at his new Viking helmet, and tried to think of what to do in the ring. The other dragons were pretty easy to figure out… but the Nightmare… that was a whole new story. On one hand, he wanted to let the world know that they have been wrong all this while, that dragons really weren't harmful at all; on the other, this was a Nightmare he was soon going to fight against or tame… Gods know if the methods that Draco had taught him would work on this particularly aggressive and fearsome species.

But that was interrupted as he heard his father's speech go on. "But here we are, and no one's more surprised, or more proud, than I am." After hearing that, Hiccup's heart felt so heavy upon him. Why was that? he should have felt happy about that, for having done his father proud, as a Viking and as a son, so why? "Today, my boy becomes a Viking!" Stoick shouted, with a happy and proud smile spread across his face, "Today, he becomes one of us!"

The crowd once again cheered on like crazy, ushering in a new Viking warrior in the arena today. They chanted Hiccup's name again and again. Back in the hallway, Hiccup heard it all as he stood up, with his sword strapped to his back and his glove at the ready, holding his Viking helmet. A worried and broken hearted look on his face was all that could have been mustered. They were treating him like a celebrity, a star; something that he had always yearned to be. But now… he felt worse off than ever before.

"Good luck with that dragon," a soft, calming voice echoed behind him.

He looked around and saw it was Astrid. She had come all the way down just to tell him that, but it did little to ease the tension on him. He turned back to the stadium, and saw his dad, sitting in the chief's seat, with Gobber and Unfer standing at his sides.

It was then that he dryly replied, "Thanks. But it's not the dragon I'm worried about facing…."

Astrid looked to where his eyes were sighted on, and understood what was going on with him. She walked closer to Hiccup, until she was by his side, and asked, "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to put an end to this; I have to try," Turning to face her, in which she seemed a bit surprised by that answer, he place a shaking hand on her shoulder. "Astrid," He then spoke again to her, with his voice crack a little as he made what he feared would be his last request, "If something… goes wrong, please… I need you, Fishlegs, and Syn to make sure they don't find Toothless… or Draco…"

"Okay, we will," she replied. But then she took his hand in a gesture of comfort. And even moreso, she replied to him, concern shining through her eyes, "But please, promise _me_… it won't go wrong."

Hiccup was about to answer that request, but then Gobber walked up to him, and motioned him, "It's time, boy. Go on, knock 'im dead." He shrugged as he tried to make it sound more clearly, "Well, uh.. Literally. I mean…" he then shrugged, "You know what I mean."

* * *

**In the Arena**

Taking a deep breath, Hiccup walked forward on his shaking legs. He tightened his vest, and put on his Viking helmet. Sheathing out his arm gauntlet's shield mode, which was later forged with shavings of the Red Death's tooth, he walked down the hallway into the caged arena. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Astrid looking on, hands clasped over her heart in worry. On the way out, he saw the other teens cheering him on, with Fishlegs and Syn among them. Secretly, they were praying that whatever he had planned wouldn't backfire on the poor guy.

The roar of the crowd became even more deafening as, he stepped out into the heat. The chanting of his call sign disintegrated into a mess of yells and cheers. It was almost dizzying. A rack of various weapons were lined up against the side of the arena. One of every weapon that they have in their inventory was lined up in order. Hiccup shook his head, as he drew out his own sword, in which he had carved on the blade, runes of the sword's given name, Fang.

A collective mutter sounds throughout. Stoick, who Gobber was joined back with, scratched his beard as he commented on the battle, "Hmmmm. I would've gone with the hammer."

"It's a rest assured feeling that's not you down there," Unfer chimed out.

After finally readying himself, Hiccup took a deep breath, and finally called out, "I'm ready."

Suddenly, the door that held the Monstrous Nightmare at bay, busted into flames, in a large explosion. And then a massive lump of flames leapt out. The dragon had finally revealed itself, using its famed Flame Jacket technique, and boy was it agitated. The crowd gasped at the swift entrance of the Nightmare.

In a flash, the dragon was all over the walls, climbing up and down, looking for an escape. Clambering on the inside of the cage, it found none, and shot out an orb of burning kerosene gel in frustration. The projectile exploded harmlessly on the inside of the cage.

After the momentary rampage, the dragon extinguished its fire. It cocked its head to one side, sniffed the air, and finally noticed Hiccup's presence. Slowly, its neck extended to bring its head closer to the boy. The piercing gaze of the Nightmare examined him from head to toe, razor-sharp fangs inching ever closer, as it landed on the ground, slowly but surely, planning on killing the boy.

The audience hushed down, and went silent in anticipation, save for a number of over-zealous individuals.

"Go on, Hiccup!"

"Give it to him!"

"Kill it! Kill the mindless beast!"

Hiccup gulped, stepping back a little to put some distance between him and the dragon. Then, when all the fear washed out, as he remembered what he had learned, that fear disappeared. The Nightmare took notice of this change in emotion, and would prove the boy wrong, until the boy did the unthinkable.

He resheathed his sword back into the back hilt. The Nightmare seemed confused by witnessing such an action, but still approached the boy nonetheless. Surprised, shocked, and maybe frustrated whispers filled his ears. He then retracted his shield as well, his glove back to normal. His helmet was the next item to come off.

Stoick was equally confused by this as he cocked an eyebrow, "What is he doing?"

"Oh gods…" some in the crowds whispered, in disbelief in the boy's actions.

However, the only one not surprised by this was Unfer, as his smile went unnoticed. "This is even better than I thought," he whispered to himself.

From out of anyone's sight, Draco was spotted, as he blended into the rocks. His eye became normal again, as he looked to what Hiccup was doing, and couldn't help but smile, "Go on, Hiccup. Show them what you now know."

The dragon was as puzzled as the audience, it seemed. Its eyes darted to the sides, wondering what the boy could possibly be doing. Hiccup tried to talk to it, "It's okay… don't worry…"

Hiccup then took off his helmet, holding it in both hands. The dragon growls, taking it to be a possible sign of aggression, in an attempt to bash him on the head with it. Shutting his eyes, Hiccup made a silent apology to his mother, the only link between him and her.

He then looked to the dragon, a bit hurt at this gesture, but hardened in his resolve. "I'm not one of them." And then tossed the helmet aside.

The crowd gasped in palpable shock and horror at what they were all witnessing. They all saw that Hiccup had resheathed his weapons; now he was completely defenseless against what he now knew to be the second-most feared dragon in the world.

Stoick stood up, a mix of shock, fear and anger in his voice, "Stop the fight…"

"NO!" Hiccup shouted, getting all their attention, except his father, "All of you need to see this…" he then extended his hand slowly towards the snout of the dragon. he could feel the warm air flowing out of its nostrils with every breath it took. The dragon's eyes soften a little as he drew nearer, offering his friendship, "They're not what we think they are. They never were …" his resolve then hardened as did his face, "There's a better way to end this war without killing each other. We don't have to kill them."

Everyone gasped at this scene, even as Draco heard the gasping. They couldn't believe what they were witnessing. But Stoick, couldn't care, as his anger got the better at him as he roared out, "I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!" and slammed a mace he had grabbed onto the cage.

The sound and the anger emanating from Stoick was enough to agitate the Monstrous Nightmare. Draco paled at this as he cursed silently, "You fool! Anger and aggression only provoke Nightmares into fighting."

This was made evident, as the Nightmare's eyes slits went as thin as ever. The very evidence of this monstrous dragon's rage igniting with such fury… aimed straight at Hiccup.

The young Viking saw this as he gulped, "Oh, crap."

Combined with the sounds of the mace striking only once, and Stoick's loud angered voice, this was enough to undo whatever Hiccup had achieved so far. He rolled over and dodged back as it snapped at him, narrowly missing. Going up in flames, the Nightmare unleashes a fountain of fire in Hiccup's direction. Luckily, he was able to roll aside to avoid it in time, before he got on to his feet and bolted around the arena, with the Nightmare chasing after in him a blinding fury.

"HICCUP!" Astrid screamed out for him, her face in fear of him actually getting killed.

**Back at Toothless Canyon**

* * *

Toothless was sound asleep in the canyon, curled up in one of his smoking charred beds of grass. That is until he heard it from across his canyon home…

_HICCUP!_

It was the voice of the one called Astrid; she had sound distressed, and shouting out Hiccup's name. It could only mean one thing: Hiccup was in danger.

Toothless knew deep down that he had to save him. The only problem was how was he going to get out of the canyon. The entrance Hiccup used was too small; the Night Fury would have to climb out. He frantically scanned the canyon walls, until he spotted a clear pathway to climb up. Toothless dashed over to the far end of the canyon crouched, readied himself to leap at the lowest ledge, and burst into a charge at full speed. The Night Fury flapped both sets of wings and leapt up. Luckily, the new tailfin opened up and Toothless was able to grab onto a crevice below, and off to the side of the ledge he was aiming for. He sprung over and scrabbled at the canyon walls; he managed not to fall, but at the same time, he couldn't get a hold on the ledge!

_HICCUP! RUN!_

He heard Astrid scream Hiccup's name once again. Strength boiled from somewhere deep inside the young Night Fury, and his claws gripped on to the ledge.

* * *

**Back in the Arena**

Hiccup had opened up his shield in time, and at the best time to. The Nightmare charged right at him, but it missed Hiccup as it tried to get him. Luckily, Hiccup crouched and used the shield as a ramp to let the dragon pass over him. But the beast turned around and charged again, and so Hiccup ran for it. It was pretty much all he could do at this moment, until he could think of a new plan.

Wanting to end this, Astrid grabbed an axe, and pried the cage open a little. It wasn't big enough to walk through, but she could roll under it and get to the other side.

In a scene that seemed strangely familiar, the pursuing dragon was suddenly distracted by something smacking it against the head. Shrieking, the Nightmare was thrown against the wall by the impact. Distracted, the dragon took its eyes off Hiccup, and focused on the source of its new injury.

There, standing like a Valkyrie descended from Asgard, was Astrid holding in her hands a hammer, ready for the next throw.

The dragon roared loudly, and hurtled towards her. Throwing the war hammer right at the beast, Astrid smacked the hammer right into the Nightmare's head, throwing off its trajectory, further buying Hiccup time to escape. Meanwhile, the Chief had gone down to the gates in order to save his still-hopeless son… once again. Once he reached the main gate, he threw open the gate to the arena, calling for the both of the teenagers to get out of there. Tossing aside the next hammer, Astrid made a break for it with the dragon hot at her heels, and Hiccup followed suit.

She was almost about to make it out in time, before another blast of fire lit up the gates, forming a wall of fire that trapped the two within. She turned back without thinking...

Big mistake.

The Nightmare was now right in front of her, needle-pointed claws almost about to rake her in half. However, his attention was soon changed, when a green grenade of Garlic Grass smoke smashed in the back of its head. The dragon shook it off, and looked behind him to see who had done such a deed. It was Hiccup, readying another throw at the beast, and he did so… right in the eye. The Nightmare roared at this attempt as it turned its attention to him now. And with one mighty final throw, he threw the last grenade at the beast. But the Nightmare's fury was too strong for the garlic grass to take any real effect, as it swatted the grenade aside, having it smash on the wall.

The Nightmare looked at the boy, as he snarled in much anger and rage directed at the boy.

Hiccup sighed, knowing full well what was coming next. He drew out his blade, and brought his shield at the ready, as he muttered, "Alright, boy." His face was now hard in courage and determination, as he narrowed his brow at the Nightmare, "Come and get severely schooled."

* * *

**Next Chapter: I'm Not One of Them; Dragon and Viking United pt.2**


	13. I'm Not One of Them pt2

**How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 14: I'm Not One of them; Dragon and Viking United pt.2**

* * *

**Back in the Arena**

Hiccup and the Nightmare stared each other down, both at the ready to attack. Hiccup's sword and shield were now at the ready; only a single bead of sweat strode down the boy's cheek. The Nightmare's maw was dripping with saliva as it exposed its elongated dagger fangs. The air stood still, with the two locking each other's eyes in a dangerous glare, as if by standing still, the two were gonna go and gut each other. Well, mostly the Nightmare looked like he was gonna gut someone; Hiccup was doing his best not to faint in this situation.

And finally… it happened.

Hiccup charged forward, heading straight for the Nightmare, ignoring the shouts from both his father and Astrid. Astrid, who looked in fright at this scene, was able to get back on her feet, as she watched what was happening. When she saw Hiccup charge at the Nightmare, she thought that he had lost his mind. Unable to move from her spot, all she could do, was look at this scene with fear in her eyes, and shouted out in a panic, "HICCUP, NO!"

The Nightmare lunged at him with his wing, but Hiccup anticipated this. He immediately jumped on the wing, and ran up it, hopping onto the Nightmare's nostril. Before Hiccup had done so, the Nightmare was about to shoot out its napalm fire gel. However, the moment Hiccup slammed his feet into the dragon's gnaw, it closed tightly, causing the flames to go off in its mouth. As Hiccup hopped off, he leapt towards the wall, and slammed his blade, as he hung on the wall, looking back at the Nightmare.

The Nightmare was able to cough up its own flames, but now realized that it was all out. Hiccup saw this to an advantage, as he took the last of his Garlic Grass grenades, "This had better work."

He then fired it right at the Nightmare, but before it could make contact with the face… the dragon anticipated this, and swatted the grenade aside, smashing it into the wall, and the contents sizzling away into smoke. It didn't work as Hiccup would thought, but he would have to make do with the beast's latest movement. However, Hiccup wasn't fast enough as he jumped back down, racing down the dragon's back. However, the Nightmare swatted him off with its tail, sending him skidding on the ground.

Hiccup groaned as he slowly started to try and getting back up. But before he could do so, needle-pointed claws raked the side of his right arm, as the dragon slammed him into the hard floor. Its fangs were fully bared, ready to tear open the young Viking's chest. The blinding pain flashes through his body, and his mind had gone blank.

Stoick saw this as he shouted out, looking in fear for his boy, "HICCUP!"

The villagers all paled at this scene, but none could have been paler than Astrid, and Draco from the rocks.

Hiccup thought that this was the end. Before Hiccup could ever show them what he had learned from the dragons, and what they were capable of doing together.

Hiccup closed his eyes, readying himself for his bloody send-off to either Valhalla or Helhiem. Boy, he hoped it wasn't Helhiem.

Gobber and all the other Vikings could only watch in fear, as the Nightmare was about to tear him apart. But suddenly, the veteran's fears were tossed aside as he heard it. A high-pitched screech echoed across the sky. Immediately, Gobber knew what it was as he shouted, "Everybody, get down!"

Like a bolt out of the blue, a bright orb of white blue-hot plasma exploded on the side of the cage, blowing it open as if it were made of straw. Something shot past the Viking crowds, and bolted right into the cage, a pitch black blur of unknown speed. Smoke filled the ring, causing both Hiccup and everyone else to cough uncontrollably. Before the Nightmare could figure out what was going on, a black shadow slammed into its side, and the weight was taken off the young Viking's body.

As the smoke cleared, shocked exclamations pour out of the stands, and everyone scrambled forward to try and make out what is going on. But as it did, everyone saw, the Nightmare was now duking it out… with a pitch-black dragon that they had never seen before.

"Night Fury," was all the stunned Gobber said as he saw the smoke cleared.

Hiccup had regained his footing as he saw Toothless fighting the Nightmare. It was a no-holds-barred showdown, a duel to the death between the two most feared species of dragons in this part of the world.

Fangs bared, Toothless tore away with his teeth and claws at the Nightmare in a relentless assault. The larger dragon tried to fight back, but despite its size, the Night Fury had proven to be a better fighter, due to the fact that he was faster and more agile. With his sweeping strikes from his tail and plasma bolts of ultimate destruction, Toothless effortlessly fended off his opponent.

However, the Nightmare got lucky as it bit Toothless at the neck, and was now about to tear the Night Fury's head off. However, that didn't happen as Hiccup ran towards them, and grabbed the Nightmare by the horns, holding onto it. And with his right foot, he kicked the lower right side of the Nightmare's jaw. This struck a pressure point, causing the dragon to lose control of its jaw. Now freed, Toothless back off, as Hiccup jump off, but noticed that the bola cannon that he had made for his dragon was attached to his saddle.

Hiccup ran up to him, and pulled the cannon off, as he took aim at the recovering Nightmare. And then, with a pull of the lever, he shot a bola net right at the Nightmare, in which entangled the dragon completely. The Nightmare tried to get free of the restraints, but to no avail. With that done, Toothless ran up to the dragon, and delivered a mighty head butt, knocking the dragon out cold as it fell to the ground unconscious.

Hiccup dropped the cannon, and walked over to Toothless, gently patting him on the head. "Good work, boy," he said to him, in which made Toothless purr in delight on a job well done.

However, that was short lived, as he heard the Vikings began to roar with bloodthirsty intentions.

"No, Toothless, go! Go! Get out of here!" he shoved at his dragon's bulk, trying to get him out of this place. But the Night Fury refused to budge, still under the impression that Hiccup needed his protection. He was only going to get himself killed by staying there, was all that Hiccup knew at this point.

By now, soldiers were pouring out of the stands into the ring. Those with weapons were drawing them, getting ready to take down the boy's dragon. This was all going so wrong, was all that Hiccup had on his mind. He looked to see the General grabbing a mighty battle axe off the rack from before, and brandishing it.

"NO! Dad, he won't hurt you!" He didn't hear him, and proceeded to attack in an attempt to kill Toothless.

Perceiving a real threat, Toothless dashes forward to attack. On the way, his tail swept aside flanking personnel, and his claws tore gashes into an unlucky few in his way. Pouncing, he knocked Stoick the Vast down, his fangs bared.

"No! NO!"

He opens his mouth, getting ready to unleash another ball of plasma at point-blank range. Until Hiccup shouted, "Toothless, he's my father! STOP!"

At the young Viking's command, the Night Fury hesitated, and looked at Hiccup in innocent confusion. The Night Fury looked down at Stoick and back at Hiccup, in realization that his human friend was the son of the man that relentlessly hunted them all down. At that moment, a number of men slammed into his side, knocking him off Stoick. One of them executes a grapple on Toothless' snout, forcing it shut. Mobile water cannons and tear gas guns are brought out to subdue him further. The rest take ropes and bind him, immobilizing the Night Fury.

After the confusion was all over, and Toothless pinned down, Stoick walked over to his son. Stoick looked to his son, completely shocked as he pointed to Toothless, being restrained by the other Vikings, "What were you waiting for? Kill it!"

"I…" Hiccup weakly started, but then lowered his head as he confessed, "… I can't. He's my friend."

"Your friend?" Stoick nearly shouted in anger, "What's wrong with you?" he then pointed to the Night Fury, "It's a dragon! If it weren't for us, you'd have been eaten alive! By Loki's Horns, have you really gone mad! It's a dragon! You're a Viking!"

"I don't care!" HIccup finally shouted out, looking defiantly to his father. After all the anger left his voice, Hiccup sighed in relief, until he finally answered, "I'm sorry, Dad. But… but it just doesn't feel right. Even if I did kill a dragon… I wouldn't feel like myself."

After hearing that last comment, Stoick huffed angrily at his son, and walked over to Toothless mumbling incoherently. Until finally, he stopped as one of the Vikings held out Toothless's head, getting his neck out clearly. "Here!" Stoick shouted as he raised his axe, "This is how you do it, and how you should feel about it!"

"No… no, please! STOP!" Hiccup shouted, trying to reason with the Vikings ignoring his plea. "He's not gonna hurt anyone!"

Astrid, herself close to crying, is holding me back, trying to console him, "Hiccup, no… you can't do anything now…"

But before the Viking chief could kill the dragon, a massive fire blast struck the axe, blowing it up and sending Stoick flying to the walls. Everyone looked up at the cage… and saw a mighty strong and very PO'ed Golden Fleece Dragon appear.

Draco immediately destroyed the chain cage top, and roared furiously, getting into the arena, causing much confusion. Some of the Vikings backed away, while most of them charged right at him. However, his tail proved to be a force to be reckoned with. Even his wings flung Vikings all over the place, as those outside the arena were watchign this amazing battle taking place. The Vikings were all frightened at such a dragon coming into the scene. But that didn't mean that some weren't prepared to deal with this beast.

In the confusion, Hiccup shouted to Toothless, "Toothless, Run!" the Night Fury, now ignored by the other Vikings looked to his friend, almost pleading him not to tell him so. But Hiccup's face became a frightened visage of anger as he shouted, "GO, YOU STUPID REPTILE! BEAT IT!" Hurt by those words, Toothless looked at Hiccup saddened, until finally, he threw off all the Vikings pinning him down, and got out of there, heading for the exit, and knocking over the Vikings that tried to get him… until he was out of sight and out of there.

Draco turned his attention to Hiccup as he finally spoke to them, "Astrid! Get Hiccup out of…"

But he was cut off, as hooks shot up, tearing into his wings. The sheer pain of it caused Draco to arch up and roar, but not in anger. To some Vikings, mostly the teenagers, this cry was of pain and fear. Most unheard of by the teens, but went unheard of by the adults, thinking that they needed more hooks into the beast. They shot hooks at the sides of the beast, tearing into his unarmored flesh, as the dragon once again bellowed in monstrous pain. Syn and Fishlegs were a few of the teens that couldn't take it. Especially Syn, as she buried her face into Fishleg's gut, trying not to show any tears of this, but Fishlegs understood as he cradled her in his arms, also trying not to stand it. But the two who took it hard the most, were Hiccup and Astrid, as he saw his mentor being brought down to the ground. The viknigs swarmed the dragon, using the chains to bind the dragon to the ground of the coliseum. And in this moment, the mighty Golden Fleece had been brought to the ground, in utter defeat, and possibly about to be executed.

Rage and grief consumed the boy; summoning the last of his strength, he broke free of Astrid's grip and tackled one of the men cruelly maltreating Draco. He could no longer think straight, and he lost all grip with reality. Snatching one of the ropes, he verbally and physically assault him, before he was subdued himself.

Stoick shoved the axe away, as he glared daggers at Draco. His voice spoke out as he looked to the dragon, and ordered out; a mix of betrayal, disappointment and anger in his voice, "Put It in with the others…"

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Makings of Greatness; Something Stupid and Crazy**


	14. Something Stupid and Crazy

How to Train Your Dragon: The Novelization

* * *

**Chapter 15: The Makings of Greatness; Something Stupid and Crazy**

* * *

**Berk Council Hall**

Hiccup was thrown into the darkened hall of the Council Hall, and crashed on the ground. He slowly groaned as he crawled up on his knees, as he slowly got on one. He rubbed his neck in slight pain after being thrown in by the guards. But the pain wasn't the least of his problems; no, they were the very least at this moment. Things had gone from bad to worse at this moment. His father had now seen his secret with the dragons, he had told is best friend to run away, forever leaving him, which was probably better considering the Vikings didn't go after Toothless. But now, they had Draco, and would probably kill him off. But now, this was the least of the problems, as Stoick, and a very calm Unfer, made their way in, with Stoick fuming at this point as he walked past Hiccup as he got back up on his feet.

"I should have known…" Stoick huffed, his voice just breathing with fumes as his glare didn't go on Hiccup at this time, "I should have seen the signs…"

Hiccup finally got up, and sighed, knowing that he was gonna get his face ripped off. But he had to set the record straight for him, "Dad…Sir…"

"WE HAD A DEAL!" he shouted, with his back still turned to him. Unknown to them both, Unfer was smiling at this, with wicked glee.

"I know, I know, Dad," Hiccup tried to defend, but failing miserably as he rubbed his face, shaking his head in woe. Then he finally looked up to his father as he confessed, "…but that was before I … oh gods… this is so messed up…"

Then Stoick finally turned around to face his son, still fuming at this moment, and interrogated, "So everything in the ring was a trick? A lie?"

"Well, yeah. But, well… not everything was a lie. It was… just a new way to fight them… without killing them," HIccup confessed, but shook his head as he got back to the matter at hand, as he pleaded to his father in despair, "I screwed up… I should have told you… take it out on me, be angry at me, charge me, but please… don't hurt Toothless or Draco!"

The chief turns on his feet to face Hiccup, palpable rage seething throughout him, his voice dripping with disappointment and betrayal. "The dragons? _That's_ what you're worried about? Not the people you ALMOST KILLED?"

"They were just protecting me! I've been with them for three months. If they were dangerous they would have killed me by then. But they're not dangerous; what I've seen and learned from them is proof enough…"

"THEY'VE KILLED HUNDREDS OF US!" Stoick shouted back, not listening to reason to his own son.

"AND WE'VE KILLED THOUSANDS OF THEM! NEARLY DRIVING DRAGONS LIKE DRACO TO EXTINCTION!" Hiccup shouted back in defense for his friends, as well as the rest of his kind. But then, he explained, thus causing something to slip up, as stoick went on not bothering to listen to his son, "They only fight to defend themselves, that's all! They raid us because they have to; if they don't bring food back, they will be eaten themselves…" HIccup took a deep breath as he continued on, letting his loose lips sink the Viking's ship, "There's something else… in their cave… on their island… it's… a dragon like no other… and it's being controlled by…"

"THEIR CAVE? THEIR ISLAND?" Stoick finally stopped, facing his son as he stomped forward to him, looking him down, almost as if he would pull off his son's head. "So, you've been to their nest?" His face contorted into a look of insane rage as he interrogated him, "How did you find it? TALK!"

"No, I didn't!" Hiccup honestly told him as he shrugged, "Toothless… only dragons can find the nest!"

Stoick picked up that bit of information as he stepped back a bit, looking out to the open door. It was then that Hiccup saw his father's eyes widen, and at that moment, his heart sunk. He could tell he had just gotten an idea, one that Hiccup didn't like at all. "No… no, no…"

Stoick turned to Unfer as he ordered, "Unfer! Order a search party; tell them to get prepared with every blade imaginable. Find this hidden dragon canyon, there you'll find the Night Fury." at that comment, Hiccup's eyes went wide with fear as his father continued, "When you find it, disable its legs, tear its wings off, and make sure it's nearly beaten close to death that It can't fight back! I! WANT! THAT! NIGH FURY!"

"If I may beg pardon, Stoick," Unfer stated as he walked towards Stoick, placing a reassured hand on his shoulder, with Stoick looking rather suspicious of Unfer's change of character, "Why waste effort on finding a dragon… when we have the former leader of the nest at our beck in call?" Stoick stopped for a moment, thinking on that, as Hiccup saw the change in his father's eyes.

"Dad, no, it's not what you think it is…" Hiccup pleaded once again, "You don't know what you're up against! This dragon… It's like nothing you've ever seen!"

He shoved his son aside, completely disregarding the warnings, and proceeded to step out of the chamber. But Hiccup wasn't about to step down as he continued to warn him, "I promise you, you cannot win this one! Dad… no!"

Hiccup's heart was tossed in a sea of complex emotions, wrenching in a mix of fear, anger and desperation. couldn't he see that this was a suicide mission; one in which the whole village could get wiped out if this Red Death, or its rider, was provoked. In a last act in exasperation he ran to his father, yelling at him, hoping that he would finally heed his warning, "FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU PLEASE LISTEN TO ME, BEFORE YOU KILL EVERYBODY!"

Then suddenly, a heavy blow across the face threw Hiccup almost seven feet away from the two Vikings. Hiccup groaned as he was able to get on to his knees before getting up. It was at that moment, he realized the blow was pretty strong, considering he felt blood trickle down his mouth from his nose.

He looked up to his father, who was looking at him above, showing now that he saw his son beneath him now. "You throw your lot in with them…" he stabbed at his son as he went on, "You're not a Viking. You're not one of us." And then he let the final blow nearly cut his son's heart out as he finished, turning his back to him, "You're not my son."

The words, cold and piercing, stabbed through his heart like a poisoned arrow. The strength drained out of his muscles, and he went limp.

The steel caged doors slam shut, clanging together. As the tear rolled down the side of his face, burning tracks on his cheeks, he saw Unfer stop for a moment to turn at him. And he gave the most bone-chilling smile ever, as he turned for the door. It was then that Hiccup heard his father yell to the village, "Prepare the ships! Have the ships ready to set sail for the Helheim Gate by tomorrow's Dawn!"

And the doors closed on poor Hiccup, as he was on his knees in the dark, lowering his head in defeat.

But Stoick was feeling saddened, at what he had said to his son. He stopped outside for a moment, as he was almost close to shedding tears for what he had done. He had exiled his own son, his only son. But he had to remain firm as he took a deep breath, and continued onward.

Unfer, on the other hand, was as happy as a silent and ignored clown, as he whispered with darkened glee, "And so the Final Stand comes in…"

* * *

**That Night**

**Dragon Training Coliseum**

The mighty Golden Fleece was chained to the arena's floor, barely making a move at all. The hooks had been taken out of his flesh and wings, and left unseen scars, as he was slowly healing up. The dragon was close to sleeping, until he heard the sound of footsteps. So far today, Vikings, whether elderly, mid age, or child, had come over just to spit, pelt, or throw fruit at him. There were no guards, seeing as how the Vikings saw that he wasn't gonna try and escape, what without risking getting harpooned in the air or ground.

"Come out, Hiccup," Draco gently ordered, "Come out of the shadows where I can see you." HIccup did so, as he walked over to the dragon, and stopped as he was close enough to him. Draco gently smiled to the boy as he replied, "You look awful."

"Yeah, well, it hasn't been a great day for me, recently," Hiccup chimed in, wearing a half-sad smile on his face, until it turned into a frown as he stated, "Draco. You know what my dad's planning to do, right?"

Draco sighed at this, knowing he would be used to lead them to the Nest… to the Red Death. He nodded gently, "I know." he then sighed again, "In leading them to our nest, it will end the war. Thought it will be Alvin and the Red Death that will end it, not your father."

"You could just break out of here," Hiccup pleaded.

"Then they'll use the other dragons they have hear to locate it," Draco replied. The two were silent at this moment, but he looked to Hiccup, and saw that the poor boy couldn't take what was happening very well. He then looked to Hiccup and decided to change the subject, "Hiccup." The boy looked to him, and he went on, "There was more to your training than just simply to gain you strength. I failed once with Alvin, in hoping to form a new bridge for both races. I would have enabled to start again, but I had to wait and find the right human. A human who wouldn't repeat Alvin's mistake, and allow his hate for being an outcast cloud his judgment. Someone who could remember the Once-Ways, remember that even in the darkness, there is still light. All that one has to do is not blink in order to see it."

"Well, it's pretty obvious I'm not the right guy for the job," Hiccup sighed in self-loathing, and looked away, "I lost everything today: my dad, my tribe, my home, Astrid, Syn, Fishlegs… even my best friend." He sighed heavily, "Dad was right: I'm not a Viking."

Draco looked to the boy, who was wallowing in self-defeat. But the mighty dragon wasn't about to allow the young boy to simply just give up. And neither was he going to give up on him either. Before Hiccup could leave, Draco extended his wing out, scooping up the young lad, as he dropped him back on to his feet.

He then lowered down to the boy's eyelevel as he lectured, "Now… you listen to me, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III," he then gently jabbed his right index clawed finger into the boy, making sure not to gut him as he pointed out. "No one in your village sees it in you, but I see it, as does Toothless," he comforted the lad, as he encouraged him deeply, "You've got the makings of Greatness, deep inside you. But you've got to take the first flight, and soar through your own path. Stick to it, no matter the storms." Draco then stood up, almost towering over the boy, as he stretched his wings out, as he finished, "And when the time comes you get the chance to test the strength of your own wings, and show everyone, even the world, what you're made of… " he then turned away, smiling as he nearly whispered, but it was enough for Hiccup to hear, "Well… I hope I'm there," closing his eyes as his wings stretched out to the sky, "… Catching some of the light that comes off your silhouette that day."

There was a moment of silence between them, until Draco held out his left claw, "Um, by the way… you lost this, I believe."

Hiccup took the object that was in Draco's claws, and was a bit stunned. It was his Viking helmet, only it was pretty damaged from the brawl during the ring from today. Hiccup sighed, as he let a tear drop down his face… but he shook his head, and ran out of there, leaving the Golden Fleece to look at his retreating form.

* * *

**The Next Morning**

The whole village was ablaze to get ready for their final battle against the winged fire-breathing beasts. Catapults were being loaded on to the ships, as the ships were being made ready to set sail until ordered. Swords, arrows, bows, axes, and other weapons were being loaded and readied as well. The Vikings were getting ready, and they weren't about to mess this battle up, nor leave one dragon left alive.

Stoick strode down to his ship, along with Snotlout's father, and Gobber as well. But Stoick stopped for a moment, looking around, and asked, "Where's that weakling coward, Unfer?"

Gobber shrugged as he answered, "Not sure. We searched his house and anywhere else he would be at, but no sigh or hair of him."

"Figures," Stoick grumbled, "It doesn't matter anway. Odin, Help us. That Viking's been as useful as Loki's Horns in battle." he then looked and saw a few of the Vikings pull a wheeled platform, holding Draco a prisoner still. "At least we still have our prize compass."

They pulled him towards one of the larger ships, the one that would be leading the assault. They pulled him onboard, and then latched him up with as much chains and ropes as possible. Then two of the men tied up his mouth, and then put a muzzle on it, along iwht a latch collar to hold him in place. But for some odd reason, he didn't even resist; it was almost as if the dragon accepted the fact it was a prisoner.

"We reach the Helheim Gates in two months," Stoick shouted, as he and the others boarded the ship.

As the ships made ready to leave port, Stoick had to hopefully look upward, up to the cliffs. He silently prayed that at least Hiccup would have been there. But he wasn't.

Stoick sighed, as the ship began to pull away from the port and towards the waters. Stoick made his way to the front of the ship, where Draco was at. When he looked at the dragon, and the dragon looked at him, Stoick leaned in to its face. He then spat out venomously, "Lead the way home… Devil."

And the ships sailed away, leading them all to the biggest battle of their lives.

Or their last.

* * *

**A Week Later**

Standing at the one place Stoick had looked at on the cliffs, the young exiled Viking boy stood, with his mother's torn helmet in his right hand, overlooking the ocean that led to the Helheim Gate. Hiccup had stood there for nearly a week, ever since the ships left with Draco. he looked out on the ocean, his eyes glazed over, expressionless in defeat. Inwardly, he probably would've laughed sarcastically. How unfair life was to him; he thought that things would finally light up for him, but then it all came falling down into darkness once again. There was nothing left for the young Viking boy to live for on this world.

His best friend had run away, in which he tried to find him. But it was no avail, as Toothless was nowhere to be seen, not even at the canyon hideout. At first he thought that he had been captured, but no one had made mention of capturing a Night Fury. Meaning that the young dragon was out in hiding somewhere. In which it was probably best this way, considering Toothless would have been in constant danger of being hunted down. But this was worse than having him been caught and used to find the Dragon's Nest.

And was what even worse, his mentor, Draco, had been captured, probably locked up and being forced to lead them to the Helheim Gate. To the Red Death; the unstoppable dragon that could probably set them all aflame, as well as fly over here in less than a day and torch the whole thing in one blast. They were probably torturing him while on their way to the nest… making him feel the pain that they said they had gone through these past 300 years…

A lone tear rolled down the left side of his face. His heart sunk, heavy with guilt. Neither Draco nor Toothless didn't deserve this. The two were innocent, all of it was his fault. If anyone deserved that treatment, it was him, or so Hiccup believed. He was the one to blame for everything – Toothless's injury, Draco's current situation, even the impending deaths of all those brave men and women, who at this moment who were on those ships, geared and prepped for the final showdown that will cost them and Berk dearly.

'If only I had listened to Gobber and my father that day… all this would not have happened,' he though to himself. Destined to live the rest of his life wallowing in sorrow and hate, he sighed and let his shoulders slumped, dejected.

Hiccup didn't see it though, but Astrid had silently walked over to where he was. She looked saddened at him, knowing full well he wasn't taking this well. Silently, she walked up and stood next to the Viking, almost three feet from him. If anything, this was like back at the Council Hall on that rainy night of their first training day three months ago. Although, back then, Astrid wanted nothing to do with him, but now… well, things were different for them both now.

The two just stood on the Cliffside for the next few minutes, uncomfortable in their silence. But then Astrid finally spoke up once more.

"It's a mess." She finally spoke out, but sounding a bit awkward to him as she spoke, while twiddling her hands together. "You must feel horrible; you've lost everything, your father, your tribe, your mentor, your best friend…" Her voice wavered; she probably felt the same way Hiccup was feeling at this point.

"Thank you… for summing that up." Hiccup replied dryly, not knowing what else to say as the words just tumbled out of his mouth.

"Why couldn't I have killed that dragon when I found him in the woods?" he asked himself, feeling he should have asked it now than earlier ago, "I mean, it would've been better, for everyone…"

"Yep… the rest of us would have done it." Astrid contemplated his rhetoric. But then she turned to look at him and asked him something pretty big, "So why didn't you?"

She then noticed that he paused, as the lone question hung in the air, echoing around them both. He appeared to be stunned; it was obvious to her that he actually hadn't thought of it before. All these months, and he didn't know why he didn't kill Toothless in the first place.

"Hiccup, why didn't you?" She repeated the question once more, hammering it into his head.

His mouth was dry, as Hiccup tried to form a coherent string of words, "I… I don't know… I couldn't."

"That's not an answer!"

He sighed as he looked at her, nearly frustrated as he asked, "Why is this suddenly so important to _you_?"

"Because I want to remember what _you_ say," she replied, placing a hand on his right shoulder, but gently, which was a bit out of character for her, "Right now."

He turned to her and he saw in her eyes the same strong look of determination that he saw in the ring all those times during training.

Hiccup sighed as he just let loose a string of excuses, "Fine! I was a coward, I was weak! I wouldn't kill a dragon!"

She retorted firmly, "You said 'wouldn't' that time…"

"Well, whatever! I just wouldn't! alright?" he shot back at her, as he shouted in frustration, as he went on, "I mean, what? 300 years on this island, and over countless Viking warriors, and all of a sudden, I'm the first one who wouldn't kill a dragon!"

He looked away, frustrated that life wasn't done screwing with him yet. Astrid sympathetically smiled at him, thinking the same thing about his situation. Suddenly, Hiccup felt a warm, comforting hand on his other shoulder. A soft feeling pressed up against my back, and Hiccup nearly went a little red at what he realized it… or who it was. It was Astrid, just like she did when they were both on Toothless that day, on her first flight.

"First to ride one, though," her soothing voice jolted his conscience. "So…?"

He finally broke down, opened his heart, reaching in to feel for those emotions that had eluded him this far. Hiccup finally recalled the events of that day, and he came to a realization.

"I… I wouldn't kill him…" he started as he turned around, facing Astrid face to face, "… because… he looks as frightened as I was. I looked right at him… and I didn't see a mindless vicious beast that we were taught to believe when we saw them… instead… I saw myself…"

Astrid was taken aback, a little surprised, but she smiled, satisfied at the answer. She looked out at the ocean as she stated, "I bet Draco's felt the same thing when he saw you and Toothless together that day you met too." she then looked into his eyes, and asked, "So what…" but then stopped as she saw that he was leaving, "Hiccup, where are you going?"

"It doesn't matter," he replied, keeping his back turned to her as he walked away.

"HIccup, wait!" she called back to him, "Hiccup!" but he wouldn't listen as he continued to walk away, leaving the Viking girl just standing there, feeling helpless in what she should have done next.

* * *

**That Night**

**In the Forest**

**Near Toothless's Canyon**

The night had not been a good one for the young Viking, as Hiccup sat on a rock in the canyon that he and Toothless had stayed in after his training days. It was the first place he looked for the dragon, but like everywhere else on the vast island, he wasn't there. On top of that, it was raining, and pretty hard, but Hiccup didn't even leave the rock he sat on, and was becoming completely drenched in rain. Personally, he wanted to get out of the rain, but… he was hoping for something, like a flu or virus, something to put him out of his misery once and for all. He brought his legs up, and propped his arms on the knees, burying his face into them, feeling down and out. Nothing could cheer him up now… not even..

_Valor!_

Hiccup pulled his head up, a look of startlement was across his face as he looked around, trying to figure out where that ghostly voice came from.

_Valor!_

There it was again, as he slid off the rock, trying to figure out what was going on.

_Valor! A Rider and his Dragon are sworn to Valor!_

Now Hiccup was getting worried, as he looked around, getting creeped out by the voices coming from out of nowhere. As soon as he was close to the lake, he shouted out, hearing more of the whispers, "Alright, if someone's out there, just come on out! And if you're ghosts, then I don't believe in you!"

Then, from behind him, a golden light shined, catching the boy's attention, as he whipped around. There, on the lake, golden silhouettes stood there, blurred by the night, but floating on the water's surface. There were several of them, but they were each in pairs. And from what Hiccup saw, they were humans in strange foreign armor, while each human had with them a dragon, each of different species.

Their presence made him weak in the knees, as he fell on them, still looking at the ghostly golden silhouettes. All Hiccup did was gulp as he whispered, "Alright, I believe in you."

But then, the leader, the one standing in front of them all, spoke out, "_A rider and his Dragon are sworn to Valor._"

At first, all Hiccup did was remain silent for a moment, not sure if he should say it. But he remembered what he and Toothless had gone through in the training. And that, was enough to remind him, as he spoke out, "A Rider and his Dragon are sworn to Valor."

"_Their Hearts Know only Virtue."_

"Their Hearts Know only Virtue."

"_Their Blade and Claws Defend the Helpless."_

"Their Blade and Claws Defend the Helpless."

"_Their Might Upholds the Weak."_

"Their Might Upholds the Weak."

"_Their Word and Roar Speak only Truth."_

"Their Word and Roar Speak only Truth."

"_Their Wrath and Courage Undoes the Evil and Wicked."_

"Their Wrath and Courage Undoes the Evil and Wicked."

And with those last verses, the figures disappeared, putting the night back as the rain continued to go down. At that moment, all the bad stuff that held Hiccup down, washed away and the boy was once again smiling. But then, it became darker again, but only over him, as a dark wing acted as an umbrella, shielding him from the rain. When Hiccup saw the wing, his smile was turned to an overjoyed surprise, as he looked behind him… and saw Toothless by his side.

Immediately, Hiccup bolted right up to his feet, and gave the Night Fury the fiercest hug around his neck as he could. Toothless was a bit surprised by this sudden burst of emotion, but he didn't mint at all, as he nuzzled on his friend's side. He too equally missed Hiccup as much; the week had not been easy for the two of them. But then Hiccup pulled back for a moment, still smiling but seemed a bit serious.

"We're gonna do something, boy," Hiccup told him, and sighed, "Though you might not like it at first."

* * *

**The Next Morning**

**Berk**

That morning, Astrid was walking along the Elder, as well as the remaining council members, some of which weren't all too thrilled by her suggestion. She was suggesting that she'd take a handful of some of the recruits to try to find Stoick and the fleet, and bring them back. She tried to convince the Elders that there was a dragon on the island: something much worse than anything they've ever encountered, and couldn't fight on their own against. But the elders were turning a blind ear to her.

"You're completely mad," one of them shot out.

"I know, it's insane," Astrid defended, "But if we don't bring them back, they'll all be slaughtered."

"Only a fool would try and stop our victory," a bitter old woman of an elder shot out.

"It's not gonna be a victory," shouted a new voice.

They all turned around, just to see a Night Fury charging right at them. The elders were about to run, but Astrid stood her ground, and smiled as she saw who it was. Then, the Night Fury came to a stop, right in front of them, as they all looked, and saw none other than Hiccup riding atop it. But something was a bit different with his wardrobe, aside from his glove, tooth-forged sword, and the rider vest. On the right shoulder, was his Viking helmet, made of his mother's breastplate, now turned into a shoulder guard, with the two horns at the end and sticking towards him. Astrid smiled, seeing that he had found Toothless, and he seemed a bit more confident now.

"Not without me," Hiccup smirked confidently.

"What makes you think you can do anything?" the bitter elder shot out, pointing at him, "You're an outcast!"

"You're right, I'm not a Viking," Hiccup stated, but his smirk remained as he petted Toothless on his head with his ungloved hand, "I'm a Dragon Rider."

The Elder, the one that had picked him for the final trial, walked towards him and stopped. She looked at him, and then she looked at Toothless, who seemed like a clueless puppy or kitten looking at her. She then looked back to Hiccup, and smiled, "Bring our chief and tribe safely back, young Dragon Rider."

Hiccup looked a little hesitant, understandably so at the Elder's choice in him. Sighing, Astrid walked over to him and took his hand in hers, as she asked, "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Well, probably something stupid…" His reply came across as a little wary, but still determined.

Smiling, she egged him on, "Good, but you've already done that a week ago."

His face brightened up as a plan formed in his mind, the thoughts flying across his eyes, "Then, something crazy." As he and Toothless rode straight towards the coliseum.

Astrid smirked, and motioned to follow him, "That's more like it."

* * *

**Next Chapter: Alvin the Treacherous and the Red Death; Master and Apprentice Battle**

**Author's Note: the speech that Draco gave to Hiccup, is just like the one Silver gives to Jim, giving the boy confidence once again. And from both movies… it still brings me to tears as it touches my heart tremendously.**


	15. Battle of the Red Death

**How to Train Your Dragon: The Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Alvin the Treacherous and the Red Death; Master and Apprentice Battle**

* * *

**The Helheim Gates**

After a month and a half, the fleet had made its way once again back to the Helheim Gates. As before, they were attempting to find the Dragon's Nest, and rid their island of the blight that had plagued them for over three hundred years. The first time, they had proved unsuccessful, due to their lack of knowledge of the Helheim Gates, and the fact that the dragons ambushed them with great success. But now, they had a leading edge. Now, they had a dragon that would lead them the way, as Stoick's ship, which held Draco prisoner at the front, chained down and muzzled, as they entered through the fogged up island chains.

Once they had entered, Gobber, whose prosthetic was now a prehistoric hammer, walked up to the hardened Stoick. He was standing at the nose of the ship, as the other ships followed after them. And so, Gobber began to ask, "Stoick, um… I was wondering," he started as he stood at the chief's side, a little jittery, but trying to hide his nervousness, "I was overhearing some of the men just now, and some of them… not me… are wondering what it is we are up to here. Not me, of course, I know you always have some plan in mind, but some… not me… are wondering if there is a plan at all, and what it might be?"

"Find the nest, and take it," Stoick replied, not tearing his eyes off the front of the ship. "And if any dragons stay behind to fight… we kill."

"Ah, strike first, and send them runnin'," Gobber nodded, "That'll do the trick."

"It's rashness at the borderline of stupidity," Draco finally mouthed off, getting the two Vikings' attention, as they witnessed Draco speaking to them, "You honestly think it'll be as simple as that? If they all do run, there's a much bigger problem for you."

The two were silently stunned at this, as they looked to each other for an answer. But Gobber, merely shrugged as he stated the obvious, "It talks."

"First of all, I'm not much fond of being referred to as It," Draco calmly but annoyed, "You can just call me Him, or Draco…"

"I'll call you dead, if you don't shut it, Devil," Stoick threatened as he was now in the dragon's face, glaring daggers at the beast.

"STOP! CALLING! ME! DEVIL!" Draco shouted out in annoyance, until he huffed, "I'd also prefer it if you'd call me dragon." he then turned away as he huffed and mumbled, "At least your son had better manners…"

But Draco was smacked across his face, hard by Stoick, nearly breaking a tooth or two. The Golden Fleece turned to see the Viking chief seething with anger, at the very mention of his son. Draco huffed, "Why are you so upset? You banished Hiccup for going against your word. I thought you didn't mind…"

"Odin, Almighty, Dragon, I mind dearly," Stoick shouted in a fit of rage. "Everything… everything would have been fine… had my son just killed at least one of you vile beasts! He wouldn't have been one of us by now, if he had just stopped being all of… well, Hiccup, and listened…"

"Then maybe you should have tried listening to him, Stoick the Vast," Draco pointed out, a bit calmer than before, "And stop trying to make him into something other than what he is." both the dragon and the Viking chief were silent for a moment, until Draco spoke out again, "As for Hiccup… Stoick, your boy is stronger than you think. I've watched over him for the past three months, seeing him bloom into a strong and courageous warrior. Not the kind you're usually used to seein', but a warrior in his own."

Stoick was silent for a moment, with a fatherly concerned face deep in thought. It had been the same look that Gobber had seen back at the hall that day, when he suggested the boy be put in training. Gobber, who had listened into the conversation, walked over to Stoick as he nodded, "Y'know, he's got a point there, Stoick…"

But it was halted, as Draco uncontrollably twitched and jerked his head in a direction through the fog. Stoick saw this, and immediately indicated that this must have been what his son meant by dragons could find the nest. It was somewhat similar to they way a bee would be attracted back to its hive. Immediately, he ran to the back of the ship, taking the rudder, and immediately steered the ship in the direction that Draco was looking in.

"Stay within sight of each other," Stoick ordered the men, "Divert as much power to the rudders, as possible, and remain in ear shot to each other. Ready your weapons and ready the catapults. We move further now."

The rattle and creaking of the ships' hulls grew louder, as the column of their vessels moved further into the grey fog. Stoick the Vast was at the head of the fleet, flanked by main battle ships on both sides. The optimum time to strike was now. They had a limited window of opportunity; they could not afford to waste it.

"Keep following that sound, as well as our ship," Stoick ordered the men from the other ships, "The rest of the ships, follow my lead." He glared daggers into the unknown of the fog banks, "We're coming for you, Devils."

* * *

**Back at Berk**

**Dragon Coliseum**

Hiccup looked up at the large steel doors that held the dragons all prisoner. Next to him was Toothless, curiously wondering what his human friend could be up to. Hiccup was sure that this plan might have worked, at least in his head it worked; get the other trainees with him, and they all head to the Helheim Gates to stop his father. Unfortunately, he didn't take in account that the others would or wouldn't show up; it was a pretty risky gamble or not.

"If you're planning on getting eaten, I'd definitely go with the Gronckle."

Both Hiccup and Toothless turned around, and were surprised at what they saw. Not only Astrid was there, but Syn, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, were all there. He figured the first three would show up, but not all the others. It was then that Hiccup stepped up a bit, confused as he asked, "Guys. What are you…?"

"Astrid told us you had something crazy planned," Syn answered, as she crossed her arms, and smirked at him, "Seriously, you didn't think we'd let you go and have all the fun? Did ya?"

"You and your dragon were wise to seek the assistance of the world's most deadly weapon," Tuffnut pointed out as he pushed his sister aside, and looked to both Hiccup and Toothless as he stood in front of them almost five feet from them, not even flinching as he was close to a Night Fury. He then turned to Toothless, as he finished, "… it's me."

Toothless cocked an eyebrow as he looked to Hiccup for an answer to that. But all Hiccup did was sigh and rolled his eyes at Tuffnut's egoistic comments.

But then they turned to their attention to Snotlout, who popped up and shoved Tuffnut out of the way. "I love this plan," he said to his cousin with much enthusiasm.

Pushing him out of the way, Ruffnut inches closer to Hiccup, commented him, "You're crazy." she stopped as she looked behind her, and then back to him as she whispered seductively to him, "I like that…"

Hiccup was kinda nervous about that, as was Toothless. But luckily, a loud, forced cough from Astrid broke the awkward moment, thankfully. Shoving Ruffnut away, she looked at Hiccup as she gave him an enthusiastic smile, "So, what is the plan?"

He smiled at this turn of events, but regained a composure of seriousness as he turned his attention not just to Astrid, but to everyone else, as he began and explained. "Alright, everybody," he started out to them, gaining their attention, "The plan is pretty short and simple: get to the Helheim Gates, and get the fleet out of there, alive and in one piece." he then shrugged as he further explained, "But if we can't do that, then we'll just have to join and finish the fight." he then stopped as he asked, "Any questions?"

"Yeah, just one," Tuffnut pointed out, "How we gonna get there?"

"Yeah, most of the boats are all gone," Ruffnut added in.

Hiccup smirked, as he knew what kinda response he was going to get, "We're gonna fly there."

Now it was Fishlegs to ask and point out, "How? Sure, Toothless can carry two individuals, but I doubt he can carry…" it was then that they realized what he was getting at, as Fishlegs stammered, "Uh, Hiccup… are you sure about…?"

"Seriously, Hiccup?" Syn began to ask, "I mean, they're not exactly…"

"I don't think Hiccup wouldn't have come up with this idea, if he wasn't sure about it," Astrid defended. And turned to him as she nodded, "Go for it."

He nodded back in a reply, and walked towards the Dragon Holding steel doors, with Toothless at his side.

* * *

**Back at the Gates**

The fog became thicker as the ships sailed in further into the uncharted territory. The tension was palpable as they went in further to the section that they had not crossed in before. As they did so, an odd noise gradually started to build up, sounding like very loud crickets, combined with a howling wind. As they went in further, some of the Vikings took notice of wreckages of ships of different tribes that had tried to venture in to find the nest, and failed to return back. It was then that Gobber had taken notice of a familiar ship, hanging from one of the rock formations they were passing by.

"Ha," Gobber nervously pointed out, "Was wonderin' where that went."

Stoick looked around, trying to figure out something that wasn't right. The last time they had ventured in, a few dragons were in some locations, fighting them away. But now… they weren't even present to fend them off, and send them home with their tails between their legs.

"They should have at least tried to make an attack," Stoick whispered to himself as he steered in the direction that Draco looked in, "Why aren't there any…?"

"They know you're coming," Draco answered, knowing that Stoick was thinking the question out. "They're basically inviting you in, just to finish this war you have."

"So they know we're here," Stoick replied, smirking, "Good. I hate getting a person in the back unnoticed." he looked to the men, "Ready weapons and be ready. Everyone else, stay low and be alert."

"Chief," one of the men called out from the ship, "In front of us. Land."

The ship finally came to a skidding halt on the rocky and sandy shore. Stoick left the rudder, as he walked down the ship's deck, reaching up to Draco's face. The Golden Fleece grunted, "Stoick, listen to reason. There's a dragon on this island you're not capable of defeating with just swords or catapults. For the last time, take your ships and go back to Berk."

But his pleas for Stoick to turn around when unheard, as Stoick looked up. They had landed on an island, which was directly a vast and dormant volcano. He scowered all over the rock formation, finding anything to at least hint out if this was the nest. He almost thought it was just another island… until… he spot it. The tip of a Monstrous Nightmare's tail, moments away hanging out until it zoomed back into the darkness of the volcano's cliff side cracks. They had finally found it. Stoick's face broke into a confident smirk. Finally, the thing they had been searching after all those years. Finally, it was now within their grasp. Finally, they could end the war once and for all.

"We're here," Stoick pointed out with a victorious smile on his face.

He leapt off the boat, landing on the ground. But at the moment he did so… the chirping and whistling sound stopped in an instant.

* * *

**Back at the Coliseum**

At the moment, all the teens that were at the coliseum were in awe, impressed and mesmerized by the scene in front of them. Besides Astrid, as she ever was even though she had grown used to it, Syn, the twins and Fishlegs were equally excited. Toothless was curled up in a corner, close to them, looking on in amusement, silently offering moral support to his rider.

Slowly, Hiccup led the large, red reptile, the Monstrous Nightmare, out of its enclosure cage. His hand placed gently on the dragon's snout, as a sign of trust, showing he had no intention of hurting him at all. Like watching a snake charmer do his magic, it was somehow mystical how the young Viking, the one that they all had once viewed as the most useless of Berk, could bring these great beasts under his control in such a simple manner. Astrid heard him whisper comforting words to the Nightmare, assuring it that he, along with everyone else there, had no hostile intentions to it.

Out of the corner of everyone's eyes, Snotlout was tensing up; his feet shuffling on the spot. Nervousness overcame him, as he knelt down to the ground. He slowly started to reach for a broken spear head that had been left behind. He grabbed it, and was holding it just in case.

Astrid took notion of this, and lightly hit him on the shoulder. "No, don't."

He gave her a look of incredulity, and she returned with her own glare, making it clear that it wasn't a request. Whimpering, he got back up to face Hiccup, with the Nightmare beside him.

Slowly, Hiccup advanced towards Snotlout, bringing the dragon with him. Taking Snotlout's hand, he tried to get Snotlout to become acquainted, 'connected', with the dragon. The cowardly boy flinches, and jerks his arm away in fear. However, he was pushed forward by none other than Toothless, with the dragon's nose pushing him on the back forward to the Nightmare.

"Wait!" he stated as the two got him close to the Nightmare, "What are you…?"

"Shh… It's okay… Relax…" Hiccup reassured him.

Slowly and carefully, the two brought the larger boy closer. And Hiccup brought Snotlout's hand to replace his on the Nightmare's nose. Initially, Snotlout drew back at the feeling of the dragon's warm breath, but slowly, the dragon let out a low growl of acceptance, its eyes softening at the boy's presence. Snotlout heave a sigh of relief, and let out a relaxed and surprised chuckle, as the coolness of the situation finally got the better of him.

Hiccup and Toothless strode away, to Snotlout's surprise and sudden loss of confidence. "Wait… Where're you going?" he cried out, feeling rather nervous.

"You're going to need something to hold on," Hiccup answered, as he reached for a few ropes stowed away in a crate in the corner of the area. Toothless also helped out by pulling out a few shields and leather belts.

More growls are heard from the other side, drawing the attention of the others over to the source. To their surprise, the others faced again the dragons they had fought during training, now curiously pattering over to where those that didn't have a dragon stood. Nervous, and much concerned, they weren't sure of going towards them. Seeing their fear, Syn, who had learned much of what Hiccup had shown her and Fishlegs, decided to step up.

She ran towards the Volcanoback, and looked her arms around its neck, shouting out in pride, "Dibs on the Volcanoback!"

At that very instant, the Volcanoback didn't try to flinch or even bite at Syn. Instead, it purred out like a tiger, allowing this gesture of affection to go on with it and its new human companion. This signified in what Hiccup had shown in the ring, and with Toothless, that he was right; both dragons and humans didn't have to be enemies, which swayed their fears instantly aside. The twins rushed over to take the Zippleback, while Fishlegs slowly approached the Gronckle. All that was left, was Astrid, as she was left with the spiky, blue Nadder.

Slowly, she walked towards it; a feeling of nervous excitement taking over her body. This was probably due to the fact that she had attacked the Nadder continuously, and that the dragon would soon feel resentment towards her, even if she got near the Deadly Nadder. Fingers trembling in anticipation, Astrid rasied her hand, attempting to reach for the blue-green scales. Seeing her come close, the Nadder let out a chirping growl, slightly showing her teeth, but not running away.

Astrid nearly backed away, a little frightened, but was stopped as someone grabbed her hadn gently. She turned around and saw Hiccup, standing behind her and leading her forward back to the Nadder; his fingers on his right hand, tracing donw hers as he held a fair and gentle grip on hers, slowly putting up her hand again. They both stopped as both their hands were inches before the Nadder's horned nose.

The Nadder's eyes open wide as she looked at the boy and girl's hand, and slowly, very slowly, she closed her eyes…

… and placed her nose lightly in Astrid's hand, letting out a bird's cooing chirp come out of his mouth softly.

"Feeling's not too bad, isn't it?" Hiccup asked, with a smirk appearing on his face.

Seeing the smile, she blushed slightly, but turned away, not wanting to have him see it sa she stuttered, "Don't… don't be stupid."

Toothless then walked in with the makeshift reigns and saddle. Hiccup then began to help her out by lending a hand as she tied the makeshift reign onto the comparatively thinner frame of the Nadder. Smiling in satisfaction, she muttered very quietly to Hiccup, "Thank you."

Hiccup turned away, blushing as well, as he shrugged, "Ah, no biggie." Toothless, after seeing this display, rolled his eyes, and gagged.

Grabbing the few weapons that had survived the battle against the Nightmare, they slung them over their shoulders and leapt onto theirs own steed. Everyone strapped themselves on to the saddles with their own safety lines, and either grabbed onto reigns or the horns of the dragons. Confidence and exhilaration at actually riding their own dragon washed over each of them, especially Astrid most of all.

One by one, they took to the skies, with Hiccup and Toothless making sure the others were handling their dragons correctly.

Finally, Hiccup and Toothless took off themselves. Toothless seemed glad to be able to fully stretch his wings once more. Once they were all in the air, Toothless and Hiccup flew fast and in front of them, leading the others, as he continued to go forward, but then Hiccup turned around while still going forward.

He got their attention as he called out, "Okay, everybody, listen up! We've got a month and a half to get to the Helheim Gates. We need to get there in less time, like tomorrow morning!" at seeing their faces, Hiccup also stated, "One other thing, the dragon that's on the island, the Red Death, it's not something you'd want to face alone. Believe me, we need to work together, Dragon and Viking alike, just to bring it down." after that was said, Hiccup looked forward, and shouted with his right fist in the air, "Alright everyone, let's rock and roll!"

Exclaiming in the heat of the adrenaline rush, all of them sped off in the air, into the distance, dragons roaring, heading to save the world and their way of life: dragon and Viking, Once-Ways and New-Ways.

* * *

**At the Dragon's Nest**

The Vikings had made it hard at work to ready themselves for this one final battle. They had sharpened up logs and stuck them up to create a perimeter fence in order to fend off the dragons that might have tried to fight back. They even started to unload the catapults and get them in position for the upcoming battle. Stoick was drawing up the battle plan for the battle yet to come against the dragons. And boy, was Stoick going to make sure that they won.

"When we break the ground open, all hell is going to break loose." The Chief addressed his fellow Viking warriors.

"And my undies," Gobber quirked, breaking the silence, "Good thing I brought extras on this trip."

Just ahead of the formation, laid the black, dark crack; an opening into the underground cavern. It was thin, and gave little room for entry. The plan was simple; it was to blow it open, and move in with an all-out assault.

"No matter how this ends," Stoick announced to them all as he looked out at the cave, "… this ends _today_."

"Men, they outnumber us three to one; good odds, I must say," Stoick shouted, beginning his speech to his men, "This day, we rescue ourselves, our families, our fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, brothers and sisters from the merciless horrors that the devils have brought us. Today we usher in a new future, not for ourselves, but for the future generations of Berk itself. No longer will the monstrous devils plague us or our home. For those who do not survive this battle, know this; your sacrifice will be remembered."

"Fight bravely, and fight well. For tonight, we will go home to a new era of victory!" Resounding cheers sound from the assembled tribes of Berk, men and women ready to end the war they have been fighting for so long. "And make sure you've had a good breakfast," Stoick added as he raised his battle hammer up and cried out, "FOR TODAY… WE DINE… IN HELL!"

"Catapults! Initiate bombardment!" Stoick ordered, and with that order, lines of the catapults unleash a rain of heavy boulder projectiles at the wall. The signature whistle of the rocks, followed by the thundering rumble made by the rocks as they hit the wall, smashing into it, signaling the start of the battle.

The catapults were once again readied for another assault on the nest. the Vikings were all ready to give the dragons a one way ticket to the Real Helheim Gates. They were battle-ready, adrenaline pumping through their blood.

The fifteen seconds of the rocks smashing into the volcano side seemed like forever. The last boulder finally hit the ground, as it fell to the ground with a loud thud. As it did so, the wall surrounding the fissure began to give way. Rumbles shook the earth, as rocks cracked and tumbled all over the area. The darkness within the passage created by the catapults spread wider, as if consuming the any possible chance in the nest with a black hole.

After a while, the dust finally settled, revealing a forced open entrance into the cavern. Stoick walked up to the entrance, and stood at the entrance, trying to peer into the darkness to make out any shapes or entrances. But so far… nothing. There was a high-pitched howl as wind rushed into the black space. No sunlight shone in, making the fissure seem even darker that it already was. Usually, that wasn't the best of environments to go in without knowing what was waiting for you.

All hold their breath in suspense, awaiting for an attack. The Chief narrowed his eyes, giving his next instruction. "Flame balls, deploy. Shed some light in there."

One of the catapults loaded on a haystack like boulder, covered in flammable oil. Immediately after lighting it, they shot the ball in there, missing Stoick, as he got a gander at what was inside. The bright ball of fire flew into the cave, illuminating it from the inside. There was a collective gasp from all those outside on the beach near the vessels, as the bright light revealed a horrific sight.

Hundreds, maybe even thousands of dragons, different sizes and species, swarmed all over the walls and sides of the cavern. There were a few shrieks and growls, as the reptiles flinched, blinded and irritated by the intense illumination caused by the flamed bombardment that illuminated the cavern hallway. Slowly, the flare faded into the blackness, and the cave fell dark yet once more.

The Berk Vikings, including Stoick and Gobber, stood unfazed, despite knowing what odds they were now up against. Readying their weapons, they all awaited the assault order, in which Stoick finally shouted, "ATAAAAAAACK!"

Ear-shattering roars from the Vikings rocked the cave as Stoick charged in, swinging his hammer like crazy, at the dragons. Gobber and a few others came in, helping him out as possible. Letting loose a roaring battle cry, the Vikings charged in to kill the beasts with their axes and swords; their shields to protect the, and the catapults shot out all boulders, doing their best to kill the beasts. The rattle of weapons and battle cries echoed around the cave, increasing in volume and becoming deafening as more and more Vikings engaged the dragons in combat.

At least, it would have been a bloody battle… if the dragons, boht old and young, didn't decide to dodge and avoid and make a run for it.

Shrieks and roars of rage and pain added to the thundering noises, and the dragons immediately took flight out of the cave. Though some of them countered with fireballs and flamethrowers of their own nature, they realized that they could not win against the human Vikings and their catapults. At least that would have been the reason, though they weren't looking for a fight… they were looking for a way to escape the island. Escaping through the entrance, the numerous swarms beat their wings and soared out of the cave.

However, Stoick was all prepared for this. The general idea was to scare them out of there, but after the events that led him to exiling his own son, he wasn't about to show mercy to these godless, mindless, and treacherous devils so easily.

"Catapults, fire!"

Immediately, they fired the catapults at the approaching dragons, smashing down dragon after dragon. Although it didn't hit them hard enough, as those that got smacked down below, immediately got up before the other Vikings could go over them and kill them. The catapults were nearly close to emptying their payloads, as most of the dragons flew into the foggy skies, nearly disappearing from sight.

The dragons realized the dangers surrounding them, and were forced to fly upwards. The dragons did outnumber the humans, several hundred to one, and giving up on the fight, many still managed to escape, albeit with minor injuries on a number of them. Flying off into the surrounding fog, their shrieks and roars subsided into the distance.

The skirmish apparently lasted for no longer than 5 minutes.

"Is that it?" Gobber asked as he shrugged at this turn of unforeseen events.

He was just as surprised as anyone else was. After all, they expected the dragons to put up at least a bit of a fight, and not run away.

As the silence sets in, there is a loud cheer, as Stoick shouted, raising his hammer up, "We've done it!"

The Vikings all cheered out loud, raising their weapons as they cheered on their victory. They had finally forced the dragons out of their island chains, and had won the three-hundred year old war. As further cheers echo about, the General senses something amiss.

A low growl was heard, through the noise of the cheers. Stoick then heard a yelling voice mixed into it, as it shouted, "STOICK!" immediately, Stoick turned his attention back at his ship, and saw the Golden Fleece struggling the bonds. He thought the dragon was going to try and attack them, but it seemed like it was trying to get away. It was then that realized there was something else on the island they weren't aware of.

"THIS ISN'T OVER! Stand your ground, stay in formation!" He yells his orders over the intercom. Stunned, the troops return to their original battle-ready positions.

It was then that they heard footsteps, coming from the inside of the cavern. Stoick readied his hammer, as did all the others with their weapons. Whatever it was, they were gonna pound into it, like they would with any of the other dragons. However, what they saw coming out of the darkness of the cavern, didn't make a whole lot of sense. Coming out of the cave, was a cloaked and hooded figure, who just stopped only ten feet from Stoick and the others.

"Who are you?" Stoick shouted, threatening with his hammer at the ready, "Show yourself!"

The figure just stood there, taking a deep breath, until finally, he pulled back his hood… revealing himself to be none other than…

"Unfer?" Gobber asked, as it was revealed to be Unfer, "What in Volstagg's undies are you doin' out here?"

"Now that's just rude," Unfer stated as he calmly addressed them all, "I live here. Well, that is to say, that I've lived on this island for about close to thirty years of my life."

It was Stoick's turn for interrogation, as he walked up and threatened, "Unfer! You've got some explaining to do, you weak, gutless, sniveling…"

"You shut your Odin-forsaken mouth, Stoick," Unfer interrupted, no longer kissing up, but sounding rather PO'ed as the Viking chief stopped, shocked by this defiant attitude towards him. But Unfer didn't go uninterrupted as he went on, "For nearly thirty years I've had to put up with you…" and shouted to everyone in ear-length, "… WITH ALL OF YOU! You moronic, muscle-bound, grog-drinking imbicels that you all are, and yet for some reason, I managed to find the strength to hold in my disgust for all of you when the time was right to wipe out all of you in a single swift stroke." he then sighed as he wiped back his hair with his hand, and looked contemptibly at Stoick, "And to be in the same room with you… the one who had me exiled thirty years ago…"

"What are you talking about?" Stoick demanded, "I only met you ten years ago, when you became a member of the council."

"Oh, we've met before, Stoick the Vast," Unfer replied, taking a deep sigh as he creaked his neck a bit, "When we were both sixteen years of age, we were put into the Dragon Training course. Of course, I wasn't the most physically-able Viking among all of you, but I was certainly the brightest. Bright enough to see the Nadder about to try and take a swipe at you…" and then seemingly impossible, pulled a bit of the flesh off the right side of his face, "… and push you out of the way…" and revealed a three clawed scar going down across the right side of his face, going down on his eyelids, eyebrow, and under his eye, as he finished, "… but left me this scar… which earned my one-way banishment off of Berk, no thanks to you, your father, and the council on their ways."

Stoick nearly didn't know what he was talking about, but the scar was what struck a cord in his memories. It was then that Stoick's face contorted from rage and shock, to one of horrified surprise as he spoke out in a whisper, only one name.

"Alvin?" he whispered, but only loud enough for Gobber to hear, "Alvin the Treacherous?"

"Don't… CAL ME THAT!" Unfer, now revealed as Alvin, nearly bellowed out in an enraged voice to his former chief, "That name forever haunted me, since I was banished out in this Asgard-forsaken place." But then his anger subsided, as his calm demeanor came back, "Though, I really should thank you, Stoick. My banishment was the best thing that ever happened. It brought me here… were a foolish dragon thought he could change me by teaching me all his secrets." he then let out a devilish smirk as he went on, "It gave me strength beyond anything else, knowledge on how to control the dragons, and the means to take my revenge on the entire village and island of Berk itself."

It was then, that Stoick was starting to piece the whole thing together, as he looked to Alvin, horrified. "It's you," he declared, "You're the one in control of the dragon raids for nearly twenty years now!"

"Oh! So you did listen to your son," Alvin mocked, "But yes, Hiccup found that out when he and his Night Fury stumbled upon the Dragon's Nest, that something had to push the inhabitance of this place to continue to raid your village of its food supply for days, rather than once a month." He then sighed annoyed as he continued, "And believe me, if that Nightmare, while still induced with Sulphurious in its system to boost up its aggressive behavior, he would have killed your son before he had a chance to tell you. Even with his feeble attempts to tame him in front of you all." He then sighed once again, as a smirk on his face once again showed, "But it doesn't matter… today, I finally gain my revenge on Berk… by burning it to the ground, now that all the warriors are here."

"Nice try, Alvin," Gobber shot out, "But you're army's pretty much flown the coop, with their tails between their hind legs."

Alvin smirked, as he let out a chuckle, "Oh, Gobber. You really think I had _just_ an army to attack Berk with?"

Gobber took a deep breath to mouth out a response, but then blankly answered, "Well… I did… until you chuckled like that."

"I needed something to ensure the dragons were under my thumb, rather than have an eel whip at my side," Alvin replied, "No. you need something like _my_ partner." He then turned around towards the mouth of the cave, and shouted out, "RAGNAROK!"

The call of that name echoed throughout the cave entrance, and over the Vikings. It was just enough heard by Draco, that had his eyes widen with surprise, as he now gave all his might to free himself from his bonds. A long moment of silence distilled over the land, until a deafening roar sounded out, and a foul wind blew out of the cave, that nearly blew the Vikings off their feet, save for Alvin. The ground shook, causing more debris to fall within the cave.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, and that maybe he should have listened to his son, Stoick the Vast gave what he felt may have been his final orders. "GET CLEAR! FALL BACK!"

Then suddenly, crashing through the rocks and cutting through the debris and dust clouds, a monstrous creature far larger, and far more hideous than any dragon he or anyone else had ever encountered before bursts through the entrance of the cave. The beast must have been nearly over a hundred… no a hundred and fifty feet in height, and possibly longer in length, dwarfing all the dragons that they ever had seen. If anything at all, it could swallow perhaps twenty dragons by chomping on them and swallow them whole, still screaming, slowly digesting them. The beast was reminiscent of dinosaur like qualities; it showed all over its body of such distinguished features. It was reddish-grey, covered in red rock-like scales that seemed to fuse together to form an impenetrable, yet decaying suit of armor made out of coral reefs. Its limbs were strong and powerful enough to give massive blows, and to steady its own weight, along on each foot giant raptor-like sickle claws to slice up even the strongest of mountains. Multiple protrusions and horns adorned its spine shaped like coral reefs, leading up to two rows of five large bluish-grey eyes on its great skull. Its head resembled that of a T-Rex, with the back of its skull was armored up by coral-shaped plates and horns, and on its nose was a sharp but dull massive rhino horn. Its jaws were large enough to engulf multiple ships, and its yellowish teeth, in which it was missing three and had a nasty scar on where they should have been, was strong enough to crush even the strongest of ships or steel. On its back were giant black and jagged clawed wings folded up, and at the end of its tail was tipped by a massive blunt mace end, used to probably bash its opponents to death.

Stomping out the wreckage of the cavern, the behemoth crushed the very earth under its claws dug into. And its tail swatting down portions of the mountain volcano as if it was made of building blocks. Anguished yells and screams of horror from the Vikings did nothing to convey the fear everyone was experiencing. In truth, they had never encountered such a monstrous beast in their days.

When they were gaining some distance, Gobber was the one to ask, "What in Thor's Beard is that thing?"

"What Hiccup tried to warn you," Alvin called out. "I give you the Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus, or more commonly known as the Red Death. The most powerful dragon of all dragons!"

The massive dragon lowered its head, right next to Alvin. The Leviathan dragon lowered its massive gnaw and nose down at the banished Viking… and let out a pleased growling purr. At that moment, they all saw that Alvin was petting the massive nose to the massive dragon. Stoick, nor any other Viking who witnessed this, couldn't believe what they were seeing: Alvin the Treacherous, or Unfer, the weakest of them all, had actually tamed such a massive beast such at this, and it responded to him like any other pet would.

Then, pulling out his whip, Alvin caught it on one of the horns, and immediately, the Dragon lifted his head up. Alvin used this momentum to pull himself directly upward, and land on the dragon's forehead. There, he latched his whip around the horns in front, making them into reigns.

Afterwards, he shouted out to the insects down below, "What did I tell you, Gobber? I said I didn't need an army to take down all of you, or Berk… I have my dragon, Ragnarok, to do all that with me! And he's all that I need to finish my thirty-year vengeance against you all!"

However, some of the Vikings were determined to fight back, as they readied to attack. The catapults shot out massive boulders at the Red Death, hoping to bring it down. But alas, it was to no avail, as they had not encountered such a beast, that they didn't know of its strengths in being a walking fortress. The rocks, whether normal or aflame, did nothing but bounce off its thick armory hide, and couldn't stop its lumbering advance. After its master was safely secured onto its head, Ragnarok unleashed a mighty roar upwards, that nearly shook all the island down to its core.

"Odin, help us…" Stoick whispered in terrified realization.

Now the Chief, shocked by this horrific revelation, lost all the confidence he had a mere hour ago. However, he saw that all the Vikings were heading for the ships. And he turned to look at the Red Death, as it saw what he saw. Immediately, he knew the worst was coming, as he stopped in his tracks, and shouted to everyone, "No! Don't head for the ships!"

But it was too late, as Alvin ordered, "Incinerate the ships, my pet!"

The Red Death took a deep breath, causing green gas to collect in its jaws. And then finally erupting from its mouth, a massive jet of flame, half a mile long, accompanied by dirty smoke, spewed forth from it. The massive and ferociously inferno flames set alight the Viking ships, and the few personnel that tried to get on them, in a plume of volcanic fire. The catapults and log perimeters were blow away in a massive inferno, casting even greater confusion upon the panicked Vikings.

They were now trapped, with no way to escape from this nightmare, as the Red Death slowly came towards them. But before Alvin could gloat at this victory, or the Red Death could savor the meal, another roar sound out. But this roar came from behind the Vikings, as a silhouette flew through the flames, and soared over the Vikings for them to see. A quick silhouette suddenly shot out of the flames, and with a mighty whack of its tail, slammed right into the Red Death's head, knocking it back a bit into the side of the volcano mountain, nearly sending Alvin off its head. The beast regained its composure, as did Alvin, as the treacherous exile looked to see who dared to attack him in his moment of vengeance against those who had wronged and belittled him.

Then suddenly, landing in between the Vikings and the Red Death, but keeping his tail in front of the Vikings, was Draco. He had broken free of the chains and muzzle, and had survived the flames of his greatest foe, as on some parts of him were only steamed up, but didn't melt or burn, as his hide was too strong for that to kill him. Draco stood his ground, snarling at the Red Death, but also to its master.

The Vikings were about to attack the Golden Fleece, but Stoick shouted, "Hold yer ground! All of you!"

The Vikings, albeit confused by this order, obeyed without question, as Stoick looked at this scene.

Draco snarled at Alvin as he spoke out, "It's been a long time… Alvin."

"As it's been with you…" Alvin stated, with a smirk, "… my former master."

"I won't let you use what I taught you before for slavery against the dragons," Draco defended.

Alvin merely boasted, "I'm only using them to their truest potential: to control those who are weaker than I!"

Draco snarled as his claws dug into the earth, and his teeth gnashed together as he finished, "I've been waiting for this rematch for twenty years now!"

Alvin merely just smirked as he sighed, and finished, "Then I guess I and Ragnarok will just have to try harder to kill you than just give you a nasty scar on your shoulder."

* * *

**Next Chapter: Rise of the Riders; Battle Against the Red Death**


	16. Battle of the Red Death 2

**How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Rise of the Riders; Battle Against the Red Death**

* * *

With the ships ablaze and the catapults destroyed, all the mighty Vikings of Berk could do was watch. Huddled together, without an opening out, Stoick, Gobber, and the remaining Vikings all watched at the two Titan Dragons before them. Draco sized up on his prey, his claws flexing and his tail blades opening and closing, as the Red Death merely just snarled. It was almost as if it remembered that this Golden Fleece was the one that knocked out three of its teeth. And now, it was time for Round Two for them both after twenty years.

"Stoick," Draco whispered to the Viking chief, getting his attention, "There's an empty shoreline on the other side of the island. When the time is right, get your people over there."

Stoick, being uncertain by this dragon, whispered in his shouting, "Why should I trust you? You nearly killed half the people at the coliseum a while ago."

"I only did it to save the Night Fury," Draco answered. "You've only got one chance to get your men to safety."

"Then I'll ask again," Stoick stated, "Why… should _I_ trust _you_?"

Draco was silent for a moment, and then turned his head to face the Viking chief, "Because your son trusted me, as I trusted him."

Stoick went a little bit surprised, but Draco didn't stop to see his shocked face. He turned his attention back at the Red Death as the two began to circle at one another. They were like a pair of jungle cats, sizing each other, up, preparing for the battle to attack. But it was now just a question as to who would make the first attack. Luckily, it didn't take too long for one to attack the other, for the Red Death charged forward, roaring as its mouth was open, preparing to take a snap at Draco's neck.

Luckily, Draco dodged out of the way, and with a quick turn, clamped his jaws around the Red Death's throat. The giant behemoth roared aloud, and crashed into the mountain, trying to get the Golden Fleece off him. But apparently the thirty-foot dragon was not about to let go of the hundred foot behemoth. Draco was giving it like hell, gnawing at the Death's armored neck, while clawing at it with his front claws. But then, the Red Death smacked the Golden Fleece hard into the mountain, into his shoulder scar. This caused Draco to roar out in pain, allowing the Red Death to throw him off.

Then as Draco was trying to rebalance himself, the Red Death ran up to him, and clamped his jaw down his throat. Draco grunted at this, and tried to claw his opponent's armored face off, to get him to let go. The Death was pushing forward, attempting to break Draco's neck then and there. And wit would have snapped the wiser dragon's neck, had Draco not swing his axe-tipped tail out, and stabbed it in the back of the Red Death's neck, letting him go.

The Red Death recovered a bit, as Alvin shouted out from atop his dragon, "You can't keep this battle up, old lizard!"

Draco huffed as he roared back, "And neither can you two!"

The Red Death charged at him, attempting to bite him once again. But Draco was wise to the beast's attempts as it chased at his tail; dodging the beast's snapping sharp toothed jaws. Draco wasn't as fast enough, as the beast clamped onto the shoulder iwht the scar, causing Draco to roar out in pain. But bit at it, as he used both his front claws to grab the behemoth by the head, and standing on both his hind legs, flipped the Red Death over to the side, and onto its back.

Breaking away, the Red Death got back on to its feet, and charged back at Draco. The Golden Fleece wasn't playing around, as he delivered a powerful thrust strike at the gargantuan opponent. The Red Death staggered a bit but once again charged at the Golden Fleece. And at the last second before his head past Draco, the mighty Golden Fleece used his right wing to wrap around the Red Death's neck in a chokehold, and smashed his left clawed fist repeating down the beast's skull.

The Red Death tried to break free of its opponent's grip, but despite its height and strength, it was no match against Draco's strategy and evasiveness. However, Alvin could strategize as well, as he pulled out a loose sack of something, and threw it right at Draco's face, square in his eyes. The bag erupted with green misty smoke; it was Garlic Grass, and Draco had unintentionally inhaled some of the fumes. This caused the Golden Fleece to suddenly weaken and become a little woozy. This gave the Red Death more than enough chance to take down its opponent.

The mighty beast broke loose from Draco's chokehold, and rammed him straight into the side of one of the rock formations surrounding them. It shattered as Draco was halfway buried, and the Red Death bit at Draco's tail, pulling him out of the rubble, and into the side of the Volcano. Draco gasped in pain, but it wasn't over yet. The Red Death then bit at Draco's tail a second time, and tossed him right at the remaining boats that still remained standing. But before Draco even smashed into them, the Red Death let out a powerful fire blast that smashed into Draco, causing him to cry out in pain, and that pushed him into the boats. The mighty Golden Fleece was nearly on the verge of passing out, just as he was entangled in the burning wreckage of the boats he had smashed in… would slowly begin to sink.

* * *

**Back with the Vikings**

Stoick and managed to lead the Vikings down the way that led to the safe point on the island. They had done so during the confusion between the Golden Fleece and the Red Death's battle against each other. The Golden Fleece had honored its… his… part of the plan. He had kept the Red Death at bay, long enough for the Vikings to get this far from harm. But at this moment, Stoick had taken notice of the battle, and the Golden Fleece had begun to lose considerably. Normally, he would let the dragons duke it out, and start killing each other. But…

_Because your son trusted me, as I trusted him._

Those words echoed in his head as he saw the Golden Fleece get thrown and shot at onto the burning boats. The Golden Fleece was struggling to try and stand up on its feet, but it crashed back down. It was obvious he was weakened and couldn't get back up. Though it was obvious that he was trying to regain his footing, but made up for it by shooting out streams of flames to still gain the Red Death's attention back to him and away from the Vikings.

"I was a fool…" Stoick said to himself as he watched this noble feat. He then looked to Gobber, "Gobber, follow the men out of here…"

Grabbing his war hammer and shield, Stoick the Vast gave his last commands to Gobber, Spitelout, and the other Vikings, "Keep evacuating the others to the other side as fast as possible. Take all the injured with you." he then sighed heavily as he gave them a smirk, "It's been an honor fighting alongside you all."

Leaving them behind, Gobber then followed after him, as he insisted, "I'm staying with you, just in case you're thinking of doing something crazy."

"I can buy us some time to get out , as well as give the Golden Fleece time to get back up, if I give it something to hunt!" Stoick was determined to at least do something right today. It was the least he could do for leading his army to certain doom, as well as drag the Golden Fleece into this, for reasons why he felt guilty about that were unknown.

Gobber grabs the General's shoulder, giving his friend a helpful smirk, "Then I can double that time."

The two smiled to one another, and the two old friends faced and charged out to where the monster… and the treacherous Alvin were.

* * *

**Back on the Shore**

Draco was groggily trying to fight off the effects of the Garlic Grass as much as he could. But he continued to slump to his belly, nearly falling asleep. He was almost on the verge of passing out, until he felt the shadow loom over him, as he looked up. There, the Red Death was looming over him from the shoreline, as was Alvin as he cried out, with an evil grin on his face, "It's been fun… my old teacher. But now… time to go extinct."

The Red Death began to breathe in deeply, getting ready for the gases to form and cook the enemy.

"HERE!"

"Ohohoho no… HERE!"

Alvin yanked at the reigns, causing the Red Death to stop its intended target, as the two looked down. There, yelling out battle cries, Alvin saw Stoick and Gobber running towards him, towards the behemoth. The two ran in separate directions, getting the beast into confusion, just as Draco slowly saw this, thinking they had lost their minds. Stoick yanked out one of the barrier beams, and threw it right at the Red Death's face. It crashed into the side of its cheek, not causing damage at all, but annoying it. Even Gobber was shouting out streams of curses.

Oy!" Gobber yelled, throwing a rock at the dragon's head. "I'm over here!"

The dragon turned to flame Gobber, but Stoick hurled another log spear at its jaw and made it turn to face the chief instead. "No, eat me!" Stoick yelled.

"No!" Gobber yelled, as the dragon turned its head again, confused, "Eat ME!"

Alvin sighed as he simply asked himself, "This is the best they could do?" He shook his head in disgust as he called out, "Cook them both, Ragnarok!"

Letting out another unearthly roar, the monster attempted to chomp down on its targets. However, the humans nimbly dodged it, and the dragon ate nothing but air and the shore's rocks. Frustrated the dragon took a step back, and prepares its fiery breath again, attending to do exactly what its master had ordered to in the first place. As the two old friends took one last look at each other, hoping that what they had done so far was sufficient to get their men to safety, they prepared themselves to dine in hell.

Draco looked in horror, as he was still weakened from the Garlic Grass and couldn't do anything. Alvin, on the other hand, smiled maniacally and cruelly, as the first to die would be Stoick the Vast.

_BOOM!_

Before the dragon could activate its all-destroying and extremely powerful flamethrower, a swift whistle sound was heard, almost as if something came down bombing right at the dragon. And then suddenly, a light blue plasma fire blast had struck it on its thick skull. Alvin, who wasn't hit by the strike, stumbled a bit, as he glared at a black blur that swiftly flew over past them from the explosion. Distracted, the dragon fell down a little, disabled for the time being.

Opening their eyes, both Stoick and Gobber looked up in surprise, to hear a triumphant roar. They weren't the only one to hear the triumphant roar, as Draco was awake enough to glimpse up at the sky to see what it was. And there, coming back to a round turn, slowing down to be seen, was Hiccup and Toothless.

Alvin saw this as he glared at Hiccup, shouting, "NOBLE EFFORT, HICCUP! BUT IT'LL TAKE MORE THAN YOU AND YOUR PATHETIC NIGHT FURY TO TAKE DOWN MY DRAGON!"

"You're gonna pay for that remark, Unfer!" Hiccup shouted, "And it's not just me or Toothless…!"

Suddenly, bombarding the Red Death's side, the beast stumbled suddenly. This caught the attention of all four adults as five other objects swooped over the Red Death. There, they all saw Astrid Hofferson and the rest of the Dragon Training teens of Berk, all riding dragon back on the dragons that were supposed to be locked up in the dragon training coliseum. Stoick's jaw nearly dropped at this confusion, as he mouthed off, 'What the…'

"Yeah, check it out," Tuffnut called out, swinging on his Zippleback head, "Check us out! We're all riding dragons! All of us!"

"YEEEEHAAAAAW!" was all that Syn shouted as she swooped to the side, as she rode her Volcanoback.

The teenagers all flocked into formation, circling and sizing up their prey. Draco, who was completely at awe at this scene, let a small smile spread on his scaly lips as he whispered, "the Great Dragon's Heaven Stars…"

Gobber walked up to Stoick as he placed his fist on his hip and pointed out, "Isn't that the biggest stubborn lot, you ever were." But all Stoick did in response to that, was simply nod dumbfounded at the sight in front of them both.

**Back with the Dragon Riders**

* * *

The teens circled above the Red Death, getting a good look at any ideas on a plan of attack. But Hiccup already knew what they needed… or who they needed. Hiccup knew that Draco was the only one powerful enough to fight against a dragon of such magnitude at this situation. But the problem was, they didn't know how to distract the Red Death long enough to weaken such a beast. And then, it hit him as he saw Fishlegs come up next to him and Toothless. Taking advantage of his vast knowledge and analytical skills, Hiccup requested for a brief breakdown and likely attack patterns of the behemoth standing between them and the end of the war.

"Fishlegs! The Red Death; break it down, now!" Hiccup pointed out, ordering Fishlegs.

"Okay, got it," Fishlegs nodded, and got a quick look at the beast, "Heavily armored skull and tail made for crushing; stay clear of the latter, don't bother with attacking it head-on. Small eyes, large nostrils; relies heavily on smell, maybe hearing too. Blindspot and shot limits: variables unknown. Though be very cautious of when it does shoot flames. Could possibly incinerate everything it hits."

"Thanks," Hiccup nodded, and then turned to the others, as he each gave the others further orders, "Fishlegs, Snotlout,! You two find its blind spot. Make some noise, keep it confused." he then looked to the twins as they rode on their Zippleback, and Syn on her Volcanoback, "Syn! Ruffnut and Tuffnut! I need you three to grab its attention, see if that thing's got a shot limit; make it mad!"

"That's what I do best!" Ruffnut replied with a smile, hinting some points to get Hiccup's attention.

"Since when?" Tuffnut pointed out, irking his sister, "Everyone knows I'm more irritating..." He proceeded to do so by flipping upside down, sticking his tongue out and be as annoying as possible. His Zippleback head also doing the same.

Those twins never catch a break, do they? "Just do as we're told," Syn shouted, ending the squabble, as she huffed, "Sheesh! You're annoying!"

Hiccup then looked to his left, where Astrid and her Nadder flew alongside them, "Astrid, you're with me. We've got to get Draco back on his feet!"

"Got it!" she nodded, and flew after him, as they nosed dived down below.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

The Red Death had readied itself back on its feet, about to finish the job on the Golden Fleece. And it would soon do so, until three shots of powerful flame blasts washed over the left side, and up to its face, causing it to roar out in annoyance than pain. Then, suddenly flying off from its left, going at jet speed, was Syn with her Volcanoback. It was about to attack him, but then suddenly, a violent explosion rocked its right side, as it turned and saw Ruffnut and Tuffnut, flying on their Zippleback.

"Bridle Back!" Tuffnut shouted.

"Slug Breath," Ruffnut added.

"Couldn't hit the broadside of my butt!" Tuffnut finished.

The Red Death was more than angry now, as it unleashed a powerful blast at the trio. Luckily, they dodged it in time, as they made a round pass to go back and infuriate it even more. But at the moment, both Fishlegs and Snotlout were currently making noise on both sides of the beast's head, smacking their weapons against their shields, making plenty of noise. Unfortunately, the two boys paled at the now horrified truth: this beast had more than two eyes. This was made apparent as four extra eyes sockets opened, revealing this beast had three eyes on each side, adding a total of six.

"Uh, this thing doesn't have a blind spot!", Fishlegs gulped out.

**Back on the Shore**

* * *

Both Hiccup and Astrid landed on the smothered wreckage, where Draco was tangled up. When both their dragons landed, they immediately bolted towards the dragon, and attempted to try and free him up. They grabbed the first board off, with the help of Toothless and the Nadder, and continued to move onward. At that moment, Draco managed to stir up awake, as he looked at the two, and saw Astrid with the Nadder, as he wealky spoke out, "The Nadder suits you well, my dear," he sighed heavily, his exhaustion setting in back once again, "You look… like a valkryie… child…" and finally passed out.

After seeing this, Astrid looked to Hiccup for answers, "Hiccup, what's wrong with him?"

"He must have inhaled some Garlic Grass," Hiccup deduced, just by looking at his mentor's exhausted state, "Unfer must have had some on him and used that against him."

"Well how do wake him up?"

Hiccup thought about it for a moment, but then the Red Death's roar caught his attention, as they turned to look to see how Fishlegs and the others were doing. So far they were holding up, but with Unfer assisting the Red Death, it wasn't gonna be easy. Hiccup sighed deeply, knowing Astrid wasn't gonna like it, but turned to her and ordered, "You're gonna have to go back to the others! Help them out!"

"What about you?" she asked out of concern.

"Don't worry, Toothless and I can take care of this," he insisted.

She knew that he was probably lying, but she also knew that he was right. So she ran towards her Nadder and hopped on, as the two flew back to the battle, leaving Hiccup and Toothless to continue to free the unconscious dragon once again.

**Back with the Red Death**

* * *

There was another loud roar, and lots of banging noises. "It's working!" Snotlout cried. "It's working!" Fishlegs echoed. Although they were happy to see that the noise worked, they weren't exactly aware that suddenly their mounts would be affected by the noise too. And sure enough...

"I lost power of the Gronkle!" Fishlegs cried, as his dragon circled like a down airplane. He only had a moment to toss Snotlout his hammer as his Nightmare crashed onto the side of the Red Death's head, "Snotlout, do something!" he then came crashing down on the ground, with his Gronkle sliding on the rocks. Finally, they skidded to a stop as Fishlegs cried out in glee, "I'm okay!" but then, the Gronkle tipped over, flattening Fishlegs underneath, as his muffled voice cried out, "… Less okay!"

The Red Death was on the move again, but luckily the Gronkle was awake again, as it scooped up a panicky Fishlegs off the ground. Meanwhile, up on the Red Death's eyes, Snotlout was smacking his hammer into the beast's eyes. It didn't destroy them, but merely blurred its vision as it shut them constantly to keep the irritation that Snotlout was invoking on him.

"Yeah, I can't miss this!" Snotlout cheered on, as he provoked, "What's wrong, big fellah? Got something in your eye?"

"What's wrong with you, boy?" Alvin suddenly appeared behind the young Viking, "You have something embedded in your back?"

Snotlout looked behind him, and saw Unfer, drawing out a pretty strong broadsword. Like Hiccup's, it was designed to be a broadsword, as it was carved from a Red Death's tooth. Although the blade looked strong, with the top tip curved, and the sides of the blade jagged edges, like a saw, it had horizontal lines showing. It was almost as if the blade could break apart.

He attempted to take a swipe at him, but Snotlout's Nightmare popped up between the two, protecting Snotlout. The Nightmare bit at him, but Alvin stepped back a bit, as he drew his sword back. And then by some clicking sound, the sword broke in separate pieces, attached to chain bits to for a whip sword. He swiped at the dragon, who was scratched against the nose, as it let out a stinging roar, feeling fresh blood at this. Alvin smirked maniacally as he attempted to swipe out again. But then, a bombardment of poison spikes were shot at him, missing the Nightmare and Snotlout. And unfortunately, it missed Alvin as well.

Up in the air, they all saw Astrid, flying atop her Nadder, as she called down to Snotlout, "Yeah! You the Viking!"

Snotlout smirked at that comment, and continued to do what he did before, as his Nightmare fought against Alvin. His taunts only served to further annoy it, and letting out a loud roar of frustration, it bucked about, throwing the offending human off the back of its skull. Fortunately, he managed to grab hold onto a protrusion on the side of its face, while his weapon fell below on the hard rocks and debris.

However, as the dragon bucked about, it stomped on towards where Hiccup, Toothless, and Draco were. It stomped on some of the ships, missing the trio, but further made it worse for them… as the ships sunk faster into the ocean, swallowing them whole into its murky womb.

Astrid saw this, and shouted out in fear to them, "HICCUP!"

**Underwater**

* * *

The trio were starting to sink down below, faster into the murky depths, as the duo continuously tried to free Draco. The water was maybe ten feet deep, and Toothless, big as he was, definitely couldn't stretch his head above the waves to breathe. Draco was out cold, but it was obvious that he couldn't breathe under it either. But that didn't matter at this time.

Toothless was struggling frantically, but the two couldn't break Draco free. The two hopelessly tugged on the chains and planks, until Hiccup thought his lungs would burst. But he wouldn't abandon Toothless, nor would he abandon Draco. As Hiccup's vision swam in front of him and his lungs began to burn, there was only one thought in my head. But Toothless saw this, and scooped up Hiccup, swimming back up to the shoreline. They pounded through it, as they both gasped for air. However, Hiccup broke loose from the confused Toothless, as he took a huge breath, and dived back in.

Toothless was about to go back in there, but blinked the water out of his eyes and looked up just in time to see Stoick the Vast dive into the water.

Below the surface, Hiccup had swam back down, as he detached his sword into two and began to use them as crowbars to break Draco free. But despite the training he went under, he still wasn't strong enough to get the boards loose. At that moment, Draco was starting to wake up a bit; his strength slowly coming back. His eyes were slowly closing, and any moment now, feeling air escaping his lungs; his and Hiccup's breath were starting to leave them both. But then the two felt a current hit their faces and Hiccup looked up in shock…

Right into the eyes of Stoick the Vast.

Human and dragon stared at each other; mostly it was Stoick and Draco that stared at each other. Enemies for centuries faced each other… finally with a common enemy, and with understanding.

Stoick quickly swam forward and helped his son push down on his other sword. And with one mighty push, freed the Golden Fleece from his bonds. Draco, now fully awakened, hovered in the water for a moment, then grabbed Stoick and Hiccup in both his clawed hands, and shot up towards the surface.

* * *

**Back on the Surface**

Suddenly, the water's surface erupted, as Draco shot out of the water, carrying both Father and Son in his claws. He flapped his wings, giving him a bit of speed as he reached the shoreline. And landed, carefully setting the two Vikings down. The three coughed up a bit, shaking off the water as well, as the trio dried off. Then, Hiccup saw Toothless running over to Hiccup's side, licking his face in joy like a puppy seeing his master come home safely.

He then nudged Hiccup as he pointed out to the battle between the others and the Red Death. Hiccup nodded, "You got it, bud." He hopped onto Toothless's back, mounting atop of him as they both prepared to fly after the Red Death.

"Hiccup, wait!" Stoick said, grabbing his arm before his son took off. When Hiccup turned, he saw a look on his face he never saw before: a look asking for forgiveness, "… I… I'm sorry… for everything."

Softening his expression, Hiccup sighed, and smiled. "Me too… I'm sorry."

"You don't have to go out there…" He's worried.

"We're Vikings, Draco," Hiccup smirked at his mentor, "It's an occupational hazard."

At that moment, the three of them looked into each others' eyes, but both Father and Son came to an understanding. As father and son, they finally, they understood one another. Years of being so far apart, and all it took was simply to talk to each other.

Firmly holding Hiccup's hand, as a father would do, the General sparked his son's confidence once more, "I'm proud to call you my son."

Even Draco nodded as he renewed it even more, "And I couldn't be prouder to have you as my pupil"

"Thanks, Dad. Draco," Hiccup said; his voice wavered with emotion.

Then Toothless launched into the sky, as the first Rider and his Dragon flew up to join the battle.

"HE'S UP!" Astrid cried happily to the others, as she saw them appear in the sky. "Get Snotlout out of there!"

"I'm on it!" Ruffnut shouted.

"I'm on it first!" Tuffnut shot back.

They started kicking at each other, spitting insults, as they started to being their rescue mission. The twins swooped in, bickering and kicking at each other from their dragons' heads, and by some miracle, managed to snatch Snotlout out of trouble.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" Tuffnut cheered on, as they flew next to Syn and Fishlegs.

The twins and Syn zipped across the air, narrowly avoiding the plume of volcanic flame that spewed from the monster's jaws. Now knowing they were safe, Astrid followed them closely.

Suddenly, something wrong, as Astrid noticed this. The distance between her and the others was vastly growing, as their backs greatly shrunk in size. The wind around her and her Nadder increased in intensity, roaring past her ears, whipping through her hair. she looked over her shoulder, and to her horror, she saw the Red Death's large, gaping black hole lined with razor-sharp meter-long toothed mouth, opened up and threatening to suck her and her Nadder in and impale them both through. The Red Death was sucking her in, in an attempt to kill her once and for all.

As she struggled, nudging furiously at her Nadder's side with the heels of her boots, as it panicked well, flapping rapidly in a seemingly futile attempt to escape this. She heard Alvin, or Unfer, shout out to her, mockingly, "Maybe you shouldn't have turned your back to me, Hofferson!"

And just when everyone thought that Astrid would have been sucked in, they all heard it. A loud, piercing whistle sounds throughout the battlefield.

"Night Fury!" one of the Vikings shouted.

"Get down!" Gobber advised, and they all did so.

The whistling noise grew louder, and develops into a loud screech. And then suddenly, a bright blue bolt streaked past Astrid, and exploded on the inside of the behemoth's mouth, just behind her. The large dragon recoiled in pain, having had its insides charred by the plasma bolt.

And unfortunately, Astrid wasn't let off as well.

The impact threw her off her Deadly Nadder steed, and she was sent hurtling towards the ground at breakneck speed. She screamed out in fear, watching as the ground was coming closer than ever. She closed her eyes and hoped that the ground wasn't as hard as she thought it would be.

Just before she hit the ground, the Dynamic Duo swooped over her and Toothless grabbed at her leg, before jetting into the air again.

"Did you get her?" Hiccup asked Toothless worriedly, just to make sure.

Toothless ducked his head and looked upside down at Astrid, who was no longer upset at being grabbed by the Night Fury. She was smiling. At this notion, Toothless opened his mouth and gave her a wide, toothless smile, and growled softly.

Toothless tossed Astrid up to catch her by the arms, before gently letting her down on her feet and taking off in the direction the two came from.

Her heart, still fluttering, spilled over with emotion, and she looked to the skies at the receding black silhouette of Hiccup, as she whispered to him, "Go."

Looking down at the great beast below, Hiccup noticed something as the two soared toward the sky.

"It has wings…" he told himself, and smirked as he got an idea. He turned towards Toothless as he advised, "Okay! Let's see if it can use them!"

Rearing up Toothless, the two did a 180-degree flip and dove towards the ground. The wind screamed past them, and whistled across them both. Aligning the sights on both their eyes, Toothless unleashed a perfect shot of plasma, right at the Red Death's head. Unfortunately, Alvin was at that exact spot where he shot at the blast.

As the blue shockwave dissipated, the beast let out another unholy roar. However, this time, it was especially piercing, and was unearthly. It lasted for longer than usual, and sent chills down the spines of anyone that was nearby.

Near the spot, Alvin had survived the blast, amazingly, but not without a price to pay. His left arm had been severely burnt, with a mixture of black and red burnt flesh. The cloth that was his sleeve was fused to his skin. And the left side of his face was nearly melted off in some ways. The eye socket had been burnt, and his left eye was milky white, showing no pigmentation at all. The left side of his lips were burnt away, with only a criss cross of flesh strings holding anything there, but didn't do much to hide his teeth.

Alvin was in a butt-load of pain right now, but was seething with hatred at the boy and dragon that put him in so much. He glared at them both, and roared out to his dragon, "RAGNAROK! TAKE TO THE SKIES!"

And then, very slowly, gigantic, scarred wings extended from the monster's back…

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Chase Back to Berk; Alvin vs. Hiccup**

* * *

**For those of you who wanted to know, I got the battle scene for both the Red Death and Draco from both Jurassic Park 3, T-Rex vs. Spinosaurus, and Peter Jackson's King Kong, Kong vs. the 3 T-Rexes.**

**Also, one other thing, I forgot to include this in the last chapter:**

**Ghost of the Lead Rider: Sam Neill**

**And if anyone's asking, yes. Alvin looks a lot like Jonah Hex and Two-Face mashed together now.**


	17. Alvin vs Hiccup

**How to Train Your Dragon: The Novelization**

* * *

**Chapter 18: The Chase to Berk; Alvin vs. Hiccup**

* * *

"Think that did it?" Hiccup asked Toothless, glancing behind them both.

There was a massive roar, and then Hiccup and Toothless both saw the dragon flying after them. It was amazing; its wings could still lift it, what with it being so bulky, plus the fact that it probably hadn't flown for over three hundred years.

"Well, it can fly," Hiccup said to Toothless as they sped through the air.

Alvin, who was in a lot of pain, and with no pain killers, was on the verge of going insane at this point. "You think you're going to win, don't you?" Alvin seethed out; his face twitching with every muscle in his being, unable to cope with the pain to mentally think straight, "Think that you'll gain victory or acceptance, do you?" He then chuckled haplessly and bellowed out in creepy cackles, creeping out the two enemies quite easily.

"It's over, Unfer, or Alvin," Hiccup shouted, "You don't have your dragon army, and your Red Death's just as easy to beat! And if you think you can out fly us, then we can outmaneuver you as well!"

"Oh, I… I never planned to fight you, Hiccup," Alvin stated, starting to lose it big time as he spoke out, and chuckled, "You see this was a… a kamikaze mission. Right from the very beginning." the Colossal Red Death was suddenly catching upward mobility, as it passed over Hiccup and Toothless, with Alvin finishing his twitchy and insane babbled declaration of his true plan, "MY DRAGON… AND I… ARE GOING TO TORCH DOWN ALL OF BERK! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!" and with a mighty flap of its wings, the Red Death soared over the stunned Hiccup, nearly beating them away with its mighty wings, as it flew fast to its now named target: the island of Berk.

The Vikings below on the beach watched as the Red Death flew away, thinking it was retreating. The colossal beast had proved that its wings could lift it off the ground, and it was turning tail. Hiccup's face was conveyed in horror at the realization of the madman's plot ringing in his head, had made Hiccup's blood run icy cold in his veins. However, he snapped out of it as he shook his head, looking determined to stop Alvin now before he reached Berk.

Astrid, who had reached up to him on her Nadder, stopped as she looked and saw the look on his face. "Hiccup?" she asked in concern, "Hiccup, what is it?"

He looked to Astrid, and answered her, "He's heading for Berk. He's gonna torch it." Seeing the look of horror on his face, he pulled at the harness on his saddle, giving Toothless the order, "Let's ride, Toothless!" the two nose-dived downward, gaining speed as they pulled up, and chased right after the Red Death.

Seeing him go like that, she immediately flew back down to the beach shore, where everyone was present. She landed and looked to Stoick, who was hoping for an answer for Hiccup's chase after Alvin. "Hofferson, what is it?"

"Alvin's going to burn down Berk," Astrid answered, earning much horrified faces and whispers among the Vikings.

Gobber stood by Stoick as he hypothesized, "That's why he burned down the ships. So we couldn't go after him."

"And at the rate he's going, he'll be in Berk in no time, making it into a large bonfire," the Chief stated, horrified by this revelation. "We've got to find a way to get there fast." he then huffed, "But how?"

"Oh, don't worry," Draco spoke up, making his way to Stoick and the others, standing by their sides now as he looked at Hiccup's disappearing form, "I've got an idea."

* * *

**Not Too Far From Berk**

The colossal Red Death had proved that its wings could still lift it, as well as gain speed. And like its master, who was half burned and with his pain driving him mad, it was furious beyond regaining its senses when it was in this mood. Alvin was on the warpath in his own mind, thinking on what he was going to do once they reached Berk. All the screaming villagers, running from the beast's approach. Its flames bathing the village, making sure it was burned to the ground with nothing to leave behind. And Alvin hoped that those who did survive being burnt, would be eaten with horrible squeamish screams of fear, pain, and terror, as the Red Death would soon chomp through their stomachs, tearing them in half, or rip the flesh off of them with its tongue. But what would even make it more grand for the insane Viking villain now, would be that those who were eaten would slowly be digested in the beast's stomach… for the next thousand years.

"Hehehehehe…" Alvin chuckled viciously and insanely, as he looked down to the beast's mighty gnaw, "My pet… make sure to last their pain for a long time for me." He sighed as he allowed his shoulders to slump, "All of Berk's inhabitance, screaming. I wonder if I'll be able to hear it."

KA-BLAM!

The side of the Red Death's back was shot by a blue plasma shot, causing the deranged Viking to turn around. There, flying above them at an angle, was Hiccup and Toothless, chasing after them. The two angled up higher into the sky, toward the dark clouds beginning to from up upon them as they both raced to Berk.

Alvin sneered at the two, as he pulled at his whip reins, and shouted, "AFTER THEM!"

The Death turned sharply around, with the speed of a Destroyer ship on a Man Overboard drill. Hiccup saw this as the Dragon attempted to slowly go at them. But the turn wasn't the problem… the flames were as it shot a massive blast at them. Luckily, Hiccup was able to get Toothless to dodge it successfully, as they flew to the side sharply to avoid the blast. Trying to get the advantage on their side, Hiccup looked around hoping to find one. He looked up to the darkened cloud skies, and an idea struck him.

"Okay, Toothless," Hiccup hollered, getting the Night Fury's attention, "Time to disappear!" the duo shot up into the clouds like a bullet, nearly vanishing from sight.

Alvin saw this, and sneered viciously, causing the burnt flesh on his burnt side to nearly tear, as he shouted, "Hiding from me won't bring you victory, Boy!"

And with that said, the Red Death made its way deep into the clouds, both unaware that they had neared Berk's shoreline.

* * *

**Deep in the Clouds**

From their position on Toothless, hiding in the midst of the black storm clouds, the duo could see that Alvin and the Red Death were confused. The giant beast was turning its head from side to side, looking but not finding the young Viking or the Night Fury evading it. Even Alvin scanned around in the dark clouds, attempting to finish off the boy once and for all. But no matter where they turned, all they saw were darkness and emptiness, and the only audible sound heard was the wind and the Red Death's mighty wings flapping in the air.

Alvin snarled as he shouted, "WHERE ARE YOU? HIDING IN THESE CLOUDS!" He heaved as he shouted once again, "Hiding are you? Well, I could use a good challenge, because after I find you and kill you… slaying everyone in Berk, killing Stoick, Gobber, the others, and especially Miss Astrid… WILL BE ALL TOO EASY FOR ME!"

And that's when it happened.

The Red Death's head was knocked to the side as Hiccup and Toothless swooped down, hitting it with one of his blasts of blue fire. The Death shrieked and whipped around to try and find them, but Toothless was too quick, and he shot the Death once, twice, thrice more at its wings, until he only had one shot left. The two fearless heroes veered off as the Death temporarily lost control of its wings and began a slow descent toward the ground, its wings flailing around in the air.

Alvin had had enough as he shouted, "LIGHT THE SKIES!"

It shook its head from side to side and unleashed a long stream of fire that looped through the air like a ribbon. Toothless managed to dodge most of it, as Hiccup pulled them in close to the Death. There, they crashed ito the backside of the Death as the two skidded to a halt on the beast's neck. There, Hiccup spotted Alvin, as he turned around, tying his cape around his burnt arm to make a makeshift bandage.

Hiccup knew right then and there, that if this war was ever gonna stop… Alvin had to go.

He hopped off Toothless, whom the dragon looked fearful to his friend. He got in his path, hoping to stop him, but Hiccup shook his head as he replied, "I have to end it here." Toothless let out a sad purr, knowing that Hiccup was crazy enough to do this sort of thing. The young Viking saw his dragon like this, and patted his head, "It's gonna be alright, I'll be back."

The two looked at each other, both prepared for this battle to come, and yet unknown that they would be the ones to duel each other. Hiccup reached for his sword and drew it out. Grabbing the hilt with both hands, he detached it, so that now he had two swords in hand, lowered to both his sides. Alvin, with his bandaged left arm with his cape, glared at the boy, as he reached for his chain whip sword.

He looked to the boy, as he snarled out, "You may be young boy… but I have almost twenty-five years worth of experience with this." he drew out the sword, as well as his bladed whip, and chuckled, "I hope you have no intention of holding back on me, due to the scars you and your dragon gave me as a gift."

"Believe me, I'm not," Hiccup answered curtly.

"Well, either way, you're too late, boy," Alvin taunted as he twirled his sword in hand, readying to make the first move, "We're here in Berk, and it'll soon burn."

"You have to go through me first, Alvin."

Alvin sighed, letting his calm demeanor show once again, until he replied, "I was actually hoping to do so."

The two stood their ground, with Toothless watching Hiccup's back from afar, as he gripped on to the scales of the Red Death, still hovering above Berk in the darkened clouds. Then, Hiccup charged forward, making a downward slash at Alvin, who easily dodged the swipe. Hiccup attempted another blow to the side, but Alvin blocked it with his sword, and then slashed at Hiccup with the whip. The young Viking used the other sword to swipe it aside, knocking it out of the way, as he attempted to thrust stab his opponent. But Alvin dodged it, and countered it with a spin kick, but Hiccup dodged it, as the Treacherous Viking made up for the miss with a swipe of his sword and whip to the boy. But the young Viking saw this as he tossed his second sword back to his left hand, combining the blades back together, blocking the sword just in time. Now with his right hand freed again, he balled up his fist, activating his Battle Gauntlet's shield mode to block the whip's blow. Truly, this was a worthwhile fight that would have anyone on the edge of their seat.

However, Alvin was right about one thing: he did have experience with his sword and whip. But Hiccup seemed to show pretty good promise as a double swordsman. The two duked it out pretty well against one another with both their Red Death tooth sword weaponry. The two outcasts of their tribe battling for the fate of Berk; one good and attempting to do the right thing, while the other allowed himself to be swallowed into darkness and vengeance.

In their battle, Avlin saw an opening and kicked Hiccup far from him. Then, he switched his sword which extended into a bladed whip that shot at Hiccup, missing him at his side. But Alvin pulled back the blade, hitting the switch, causing it to get pulled back, and nicking Hiccup into his abdomen's side, causing a stream of blood to shoot. Hiccup, gasped in surprise and pain, fell to his knees, clutching his bleeding side.

Toothless saw this, and was about to go forward, until Alvin's whip slashed the ground in front of him, causing him to jump back in fear. "Lie down, Dragon!" Alvin shouted at the dragon, and looked to the boy, "And you die already! You're nothing more than the sorry relic's hope of tales… and dead beliefs!"

Hiccup got up again, swatting Alvin's sword away as he defended, "They were your beliefs too!"

"Never, never mine," Alvin explained, "That Old Code he had me recite. I'll let you in on a secret: I only spewed those words out because I couldn't stomach them! He taught me to fight and enslave dragons, that's all! That's all I took from him!"

Hiccup looked to Toothless, and nodded, "Well, then you didn't learn a thing!"

He then dashed towards the end, and he hopped back on Toothless as the two took off once again.

Alvin got back on the reigns, as he pulled the Red Death to let one last blast hit the two. It didn't kill the duo, but one little flicker latched onto Toothless's artificial fin and ignited it immediately. Toothless dove down, looking like the tail was on fire. Hiccup's worry was beginning to grow when he took notice of the tail fin ablaze. He also clenched his side, knowing full well the wound was deep. This was made evident to Hiccup's fears as he pulled his hand back, wet with blood. But that didn't bother him at all, even if his vision was blurring. Not because the fire was hurting Toothless: dragons were mostly fireproof on the outside… but because now that he was alight, the Red Death could easily see them now.

And now it came after them at top speed, having regained the use of its wings.

"Okay, time's up," Hiccup whispered. "Let's see if this works."

Toothless whined in exhaustion. "I know," he soothed, trying to sound calm. "Just bear with me a little longer, buddy." Then he raised his voice and steered Toothless around the Red Death. "C'mon, is that the best you can do?"

"Oh, I can do much more than that, boy!" Alvin shouted.

The Death tried to snap us up, but it couldn't find us. Toothless began speeding back toward the ground.

Behind us, the Death opened its mouth and roared again. "Wait for it…" Hiccup hissed.

Then they heard it: the loud hiss of gas as it was preparing to blast them both. The sound of a large man snoring. Alvin felt victory close at hand as he muttered, "This is it. Farewell, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III…."

"NOW, TOOTHLESS!" he yelled.

Toothless flipped around in midair so they were flying backwards, facing the Death's open mouth. With his last shot, Toothless fired right at the ball of green gas forming in the Death's throat.

The Death's eight eyes widened as the gas inside it ignited, creating a large, deadly fireball in its throat. Unlike the Terror, who came out unharmed, the Death's throat caught on fire and slowly began to travel down. Toothless turned around again and zoomed toward the ground.

Behind us, the Death was plummeting. It spread its wings and tried to slow its fall, but its wings were tearing, and several holes had ripped through the membrane. Alvin saw all of this, as he looked around, with no way out of this, as Hiccup and Toothless passed by them, and he shouted, "NOOOOOO….!"

With an explosion that could be heard up in Valhalla, the Red Death hit the ground and exploded, taking Alvin along with him, on the nearby and uninhabited shores of Berk.

Fire began to consume the monster's remains. Toothless sped along the Death's back as the fire reared up behind them both. The material on Toothless' artificial fin finally succumbed to the fire, and Hiccup's heart skipped a beat as the cloth was torn off, leaving only the metal frame. It was now more possible that he couldn't steer. Groggily, he looked up ahead to see if they had a clear path. But, Hiccup's vision was blurring up too much, as he was nearing into shock from too much blood loss. Even his grip on the reigns were becoming harder to hold onto. As he tried to focus, he took notice of one last thing…

… and saw that they were heading straight for the club on the dragon's tail. "Oh no," he whispered weakly as he realized that this time that none of them might not make it.

Hiccup only had one thing to mutter before he fully slipped, "This… is gonna… gonna… hur…"

And Toothless slammed into the tail a bit, but not enough to knock him out cold.

It was then that Toothless turned a bit just to see Hiccup, unconscious and falling downward towards the inferno. Hiccup was falling through a hot, fiery world, with the roaring of flames nearing him from below and the crying of Toothless from above.

Toothless cried out, but wasn't about to give up so easily. He took a nosedive, using his wings to further his descent towards Hiccup, as the flames engulfed them both.

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Birth of Glory; the Pets are Dragons**


	18. The Pets Are Dragons

**Sorry for the lateness, but it's difficult to load this while on a military vessel. Computer bugs and all, you know. Anyway, hope you've enjoyed this story as I had much fun writing it.**

* * *

How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization

* * *

**Chapter 19:The Birth of Glory; the Pets are Dragons**

* * *

**Not Far from Berk's Shores**

**Earlier**

In the clouded skies, flying at high speeds, was Astrid on her Deadly Nadder. She had wasted no time taking off and going after Hiccup, although he had gained some pretty good distance to catch up to the Red Death. She would have waited for the others, but her fear of the situation got the better of her on this. Hiccup and Toothless were facing the Red Death, and Alvin, together… alone and with only what they had with them. If there was anything that she hated about boys, they always had to do this macho lone warrior routine. And boy howdy, if he lived through this, she was gonna slap him in the face.

"Astrid!" a familiar voice called out, catching her attention. Astrid turned and saw Syn, catching up on high speed on her Volcanoback, as they were now side by side. "Astrid, wait up!" she pleaded, "The others are trying to catch up; they're not used to riding dragons like we are!"

The two girls looked behind them, and noticed Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins catching up to them. Their dragons were doing their best to try and catch up to the two girls who have taken the lead. But amazingly, that wasn't what Syn was talking about, for coming out of the clouds, was a sight to behold. The Vikings that had joined with Stoick to go after the Dragon's Nest, were each riding a dragon back to Berk. Apparently, after the Red Death had left the now abandoned Nest, the other dragons had come back. And with a little help from Astrid and the others, they had each found a ride back home.

"There's no time," she debated, "Hiccup's facing that thing and that maniac all by himself. He needs all the help he can get!" Astrid then turned her attention back to the front as she snapped at her reins, urging her Nadder to go forward, "C'mon, Valkeryie! Heyaa!"

"Valkeryie?" Syn asked in total confusion.

"My dragon's name. got a problem with it?" Astrid answered quickly, not paying attention to the huge shadow above her.

Above the two, Draco was soaring above them, gaining some good distance as he was heading to Berk. And riding on his back, holding onto one of his upper back spikes, was Stoick the Vast. The idea was for all the Vikings to take a dragon and ride after Hiccup. Stoick just didn't think that he'd be riding the Golden Fleece. Nor did he get a rush from the flight, but kept his calm at this.

"Draco!" Stoick shouted as he got the Fleece's attention, "Can't you go any faster?"

"I was swatted around, beat up, and bitten at by the largest, unreasonable, and most aggressive of my kind. I'm lucky enough to be even able to fly at all," Draco shot back. But he got a good look at the ground as he saw sight of Berk, "Besides, we're closing in to Berk faster than you think."

"Good," Gobber groaned behind Stoick. He had hitched a ride on Draco along with Stoick, but he wasn't enjoying his first flight on a dragon. He was on his knees, hanging over Draco's left side, turning green as he had for his left hand, a burlap sac attachment. "Because if we don't… ulp! I'm gonna do what Yaks are best for: yakking!"

Draco's face scrunched in displeasure as he scolded, "No hurling on me, alright? I just had a Red Death's death grip bite on my neck, and having a Viking throwing up on my back is only one out of a hundred experiences that I don't want!"

"There!" Astrid shouted, pointing out towards Berk.

Everyone got a good look at what the young Hofferson was shouting about and they spotted it. A huge explosion had erupted from the side of the uninhabited part of the island's shores. Luckily, the explosion didn't go anywhere near the village, so it indicated a motion of safety. But that wasn't what Astrid was shouting about, as everyone got a good look at it. There, flying out of there as fast as they could, was Toothless and Hiccup, trying to escape from the flames. And they almost made it, until Toothless had crashed a bit into the massive club tail that was the Red Death's tail tip. When that happened, Hiccup started plummeting towards the flames, and Toothless dived right into the blazing ocean of the Inferno. It was truly a horrid scene for those who cared for the boy and Night Fury.

"HICCUP/TOOTHLESS!" both Stoick and Draco shouted, as the Golden Fleece took a nosedive to speed his advancement to the island.

"Oh, not this…" Gobber groaned as he held on for dear life, both on to the dragon… and his lunch.

With the trio nearly disappearing, Astrid feared the worst, as she smacked the reins, "C'mon, girl!"

The duo nosedived after Draco, as fast as they could, with the other teens and Vikings following them, hoping to find the two heroes as the sea of flames started to die down.

* * *

**Berk's Shores**

**Now**

After the Red Death's carcass had been put out, the section of the island had been covered in a fog of smoke and snowing ash flakes. It was nearly impossible to find anyone or anything in such a mess. Which was what Stoick and Gobber were doing, as they tried to soup their way through the ash soup. Draco was right behind them, being the upper lookout due to his height. So far, it hadn't been the best search party, as there was no sign of the young Viking, nor the Night Fury. Things weren't looking so good as they tried to find the duo.

"Hiccup!" Stoick called, looking around the fog and ash covered shores, "Hiccup! Son!"

"Hiccup! Where are ya, lad?" Gobber called out, but unable to get a sound, nor sight of the boy nor his dragon. "Maybe he got out of there," he shrugged.

"If he had gotten out of there, Gobber," Stoick stated, not tearing his eyes off of the landscape, "We'd have seen him and the Night Fury get out of there from the fires."

Ignoring the two, Draco looked around, scanning the landscapes for the two. So far there was only destroyed rocks, and the giant, scattered, and charred bones of the Red Death. Oddest thing was, there was no sign nor body of the former Viking of Berk, Alvin the Treacherous. Suddenly, almost as if Asgard let a light out to show the way, Draco spotted a familiar black spot, lying on the ground.

"There!" Draco called out as he pointed with his head.

The two Vikings looked and spotted Toothless, unconscious on the ground. "Hiccup!" Stoick called as he got a running start towards them.

When he got there, he saw Toothless, and only Toothless, with his wings wrapped around him like a bat. At first, Stoick thought that Hiccup would have been around somewhere. But all that changed as fear was shown on the Viking chief's face, as well as in his eyes, as he saw the saddle and tail control harness. It was in complete ruin with no sigh of Hiccup anywhere, in which this caused Stoick to assume the worse.

He fell to his knees, as all the other Vikings, following Gobber had shown up along and stopped nearly ten feet from where Draco had stopped. But Stoick ignored them as he sighed in deep depression; his eyes almost on the verge of watering, as he whispered, "I did this."

"Stoick, wait!" Draco stated as he looked at Toothless's body for a moment, and his eyes slightly lit up, "I don't think you have to arrange a funeral pyre yet."

Toothless, waking up a bit, groggily looked at Stoick and Draco, and saw the depression in the Viking chief's eyes. Knowing what Stoick was sad about, unfolded his wings. There, being held in his arms safely, was Hiccup, half unconscious… but barely holding on to his life. This only brought more fear in the Viking chief, as he gasped, as he saw the blood stain on Hiccup's left side.

"Hiccup, no," the chief whispered, and hung his head in deeper depression.

All the Vikings saw this, as Astrid was pushing her way through the crowd. When she broke through, she stopped in her tracks as she stood by Gobber and the other teens. But at that distance, she saw Hiccup's lifeless form in Toothless's arms. Seeing him like that broke her heart, as realization that Hiccup didn't make it filled her with sorrow. Her blue eyes started to water with tears as she stood there, feeling helpless on what to do. She held back a small but silent whimpered sob, as she closed her eyes tightly, looking away with her head hung to the right. Astrid covered her eyes with her right hand, but couldn't prevent a small tear from going down her left cheek. Nothing seemed to bring her comfort, not even Syn's hand on her shoulder.

The dragons that had helped the Vikings, all the dragons from the island, had walked among the Vikings as they witnessed this as well. The boy that had saved their island and defeated the man and dragon that had enslaved them… was dying, and none could do anything about it. The dragons all growled in despair at their fallen hero, as did the Vikings mourn silently for Hiccup.

Hiccup was set on the ground, nearly and slowly dying with no one able to do anything. Toothless, looked saddened at the boy, and then looked to the silently grieving father. Stoick looked to Toothless, and silently whispered, "Oh, son, I… I'm sorry. I am so sorry."

Draco, who grieved at this young man in whom he had grown to care for as well, could only look at the boy with a saddened look of despair. He only prayed to the Dragon's Heaven that there was something he could have done. But then, only for after a minute had passed, did Draco's face lit up with a thought. It could work, after all, it was proven as the greatest link of the bond between Man and Dragon.

He looked to Stoick as he stated, calmly, "Stoick. Maybe all hope's not lost for the boy yet."

"What?" Stoick asked, his voice still saddened, but had a small spark of hope in it, "You sayin' you know of a way to save my boy?"

At first, Draco was confident in the idea, but then, he turned a bit, looking uncertain, "Although… I don't know what'll happen."

"Anything," Stoick stated as he got on one knee, looking determined to save his son, "If it's something I can give to save his life, I'll give it up for him."

"No," Draco shook his head as he answered, "It's something only a dragon can do for him now." he lifted his right claw up to his face, and closed his eyes. Almost concentrating for about a few seconds, he was about to draw in a deep breath, until Toothless roared lightly to get Draco's attention. The elder dragon stopped, and saw the Night Fury, pleading him to do whatever it was that Draco had intentions on doing. Seeing this, Draco advised cautiously, "You know of what you ask, don't you?" the Night Fury looked to Hiccup, and nodded.

Sighing in defeat, Draco acknowledged, "Very well."

Draco brought his right claw down in front of Toothless's face. Closing his eyes, concentrating, the back scales began to glow as blue as his flames, and glowed to where his heart ought to have been. And taking a deep breath, Toothless unleashed a blast of flame into Draco's clawed hand. When it hit, Draco closed his claw, and for a second, reopened it, as all saw this. The flames were engulfing his palm as he brought it up. Sitting down, he brought his other claw and smashed it together, but instead of putting it out, it spread to his other hand. With the grace and balance of a martial artist, Draco waved the flames a bit and stopped as he looked down at Hiccup.

He then started to bring his still flamed up palms down on to the boy. Stoick saw this, as he got up on his feet, angered at thinking the dragon was going to burn the boy, "Oy! What do you think you're doing?"

"Peace, Stoick the Vast," Draco calmly defended, and looked to the boy, "Witness the wonders of an ancient and long forgotten glory."

Draco then brushed over Hiccup's body with his hands, almost as if he was wiping down a table. When his hands came back, Hiccup was blanketed by the blue flames of the Night Fury from head to toe. But he didn't burn from it as nothing was scorching or cooked, nor was the boy in any pain at all. His body was calm and serene, as if the flames were merely dancing on him and not harming him at all, or if they were never there. When Stoick and all the other Vikings listened carefully, they all heard a rhythm heartbeat, emanating from the blue flames.

"A heartbeat?" Stoick asked in confusion, and looked to the Elder Dragon.

"To us dragons, Fire is life. Our life," Draco answered as he explained, "And in this ancient practice, we can give a small portion of our life to another." Then the flames seeped into Hiccup's body, disappearing inside him, and healing the wound on the left side of his stomach, only leaving a slash scar. "In this, we not only give a small portion of our life to them, but also a portion of our power," Draco explained as he looked to Hiccup, as did Toothless, who nudged him gently, "A small portion of one's spirit to make the other whole. That strength to purify any weakness. It's only dangerous if the human's heart is darkened. Luckily, Hiccup is no darkened soul." and smiled to the boy warmly, "As we all, Viking and Dragon alike, have come to bear witness."

It was only for a few seconds, did it happen. Hiccup drew a breath once again, and breathed normally. Stoick knelt down as he threw his helmet aside. He put his ear to his son's chest, and heard a strong heartbeat. Choked up in this miracle, he whispered, with a sobbing chuckle, "He's alive." He looked to both Draco and Toothless, "You both brought him back alive."

This earned a small sigh from Toothless, and a teary eyed smile from Draco. When they heard that Hiccup had survived, both the Vikings and the dragons cheered on. The teens cheered on at this good news, but no one was as happy as Astrid, as she brought her hands to her mouth, smiling with joy that he had been saved. The dragons roared on for their champion's survival, as it was a brand new future for them all.

And then, no one saw it coming, but Stoick reached out, and petted Toothless on the face. The tears gone, he nodded, "Thank you, Toothless," and looked up to Draco, "And thank you as well, Draco." the two dragons nodded, as Stoick looked to Toothless, "Thank you both for saving my son."

Gobber strode up, and grimaced as he got a look at Hiccup and coughed, "Well, you know… _most _of him."

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

Back in the Haddock house, Hiccup was asleep in his bed, recuperating from the battle. His shirt and pants were slung over the bed post, as was his vest. For two weeks he had been out; apparently, the battle had been a tough one on the boy. Toothless leaned on the bed on his front legs, looking at the boy, and leaned in, nudging him with his nose. He knew the boy was alright, and now it was time for him to wake up.

"Ugh, come on, give me five more minutes…" Hiccup groaned, "Just five more minutes, Mom."

Toothless sighed at this as he nudged him again, and this time, the boy woke up, groggily.

The first thing he saw was Toothless, as he let out a weak smile, "Hey, Toothless." Toothless smiled as he nudged him some more, as Hiccup chuckled, "I'm happy to see you too, boy." unfortunately, he nudged him so close, his right front paw slammed into the boy's stomach. He hunched upward, clutching his stomach as he groaned, "Ugh! Alright, I'm up, I'm up."

However, it was only until Hiccup was wide awake, did he see where he was. In his room.

"I'm, ah… in my room," Hiccup nervously replied, and looked to Toothless, who was happy with the mannerism of a puppy dog, "And you're… in my room. In my home." he looked around nervously, "Does my dad know you're here?" and then, Toothless bound across the room, happy than ever, as he jumped around, nearly knocking things down, and jumped on the ceiling beams. Hiccup sat up as he called out, "No! Bad Night Fury. Don't do… Toothless! Get down here now."

Hiccup was about to sit up and stand up, only to feel a slight numbness coming from his left leg. Had he slept that good? Not exactly possible due to the 'comfort' of his bed. Something wasn't right, as his confusion was shown on his face. He lifted the covers a bit, to see what it was, and was shocked, but only calmly at this. Toothless jumped back down, almost studying Hiccup's calm shocked demeanor. Taking a deep breath, Hiccup came to realization that he couldn't have come out of that fight unscathed completely. He then sat on the edge of the bed, wearing only his underwear, as he looked at his right flesh leg and foot… and now at his prosthetic left leg and foot.

Apparently, he had lost his left leg from the knee down. And in its place was a stunning metal prosthetic, almost looking too good to be Gobber's work or his own. The leg's design was sleek and perfectly accurate for the living thing; a metallic organic prosthetic leg of more high work and advancement than Hiccup could have ever thought possible. There were four leather straps on where the metal connected to the flesh. The rest was seemingly flawlessly shaped like an actual leg and foot; with the calf and greave linked together with a moveable and spring loaded muscle system inside of it being shown in the exposed back. Even the toes seemed to work properly, even though they were hollowed digits. The joints, seems, and moving parts were all amazingly made well to be smooth and functional. In truth, Hiccup couldn't believe this was his new leg now.

Toothless walked over, looking at the leg, and at Hiccup, almost telling him that he knew how he felt with his tail fin. Sighing, Hiccup accepted this, and decided to test the new leg out. Standing up, he saw that the leg worked pretty well, and seemed to have some sort of spring loaded muscle in both the ankle and the middle of the calf. All in all it seemed to work well, except the only thing that didn't make sense was the fact that the toes seemed to move whenever Hiccup willed them to wiggle, which was a bit odd. It was almost as if he never lost the nerve connections in them; as if this was his real foot now.

When he took the first step, the numb feeling came for a second, causing him to nearly fall over in surprise. Luckily, Toothless ran to him to catch him in time. Hiccup sighed as he smiled to his dragon, as he got back up on his feet, "Yeah, I know. I just gotta take it easy for a minute," and walked over to his clothes, "Just have to get used to it first."

After getting dressed, he put on his vest and his battle gauntlet, just in case, and saw that his sword was nowhere to be seen. After the two had gotten downstairs, with Toothless's help, Hiccup reached for the door and opened it.

… only to be greeted by a Nightmare flying near his house.

Letting fear get the better of him, he slammed the door, and looked to Toothless, "Okay, let's go out the back…"

But Toothless nudged to open the door again. A bit confused by this, Hiccup complied anyway as he opened the door, only to see the Nightmare flying away with Snotlout on his back, along with other Vikings on dragons.

"Alright, everyone," he shouted from behind, "Let's go!"

Confused, Hiccup whispered, "What the… ?" and looked outside and couldn't believe what he saw.

Berk had become infested with the dragons from the nest. But this time, the Vikings and the dragons seemed to be getting along. The torch towers had been converted into giant feeding bowls, while a few of the houses were converted into giant dragon posts. Even a house was being built as a Dragon House for some of the more birdlike dragons. A runway on every roof was being made especially for any dragons. For Hiccup, this was all just too weird to even be a reality.

"I knew it," he whispered with disbelief, "I'm dead."

Then he heard his father chuckling as he was right behind him, patting him on the back, "No, but you gave it your best shot." Standing by his son's side, he smirked, "So what do ya think?"

"I think I must be dreaming," Hiccup chuckled, as they both walked down the stairs.

"Hey look, it's Hiccup!" one of the Vikings shouted.

And with that, all the Vikings and dragons came rushing over to him. No longer were they afraid of him being a walking disaster area, but instead… they saw him as one of them. Maybe even more than a Viking. Stoick made proof of that, as he looked to his son, proudly as he replied, gesturing to all of him, "Seems that in the end, all we needed was a little more of… this."

Stunned, Hiccup stated, "But… you just gestured to… all of me."

Stoick nodded and smiled proudly, then Gobber popped out as he stated, "Well, you know… most of you," and pointed to Hiccup's left leg, "That little bit is both my and Draco's handiwork, with a little Hiccup flare to it." he then asked, "Think it'll do?"

Hiccup looked at his left leg, covered in both his pants, and fit quite well in his boot, as he nodded, "It'll do. Until I make a few tweaks, if need be."

That earned a chuckle from everyone else at that little joke. "Well, at least the most important things have happened to ya," Gobber pointed out, as he slapped Hiccup's shoulder in a playful manner, "You got your first scars, and you lost your first limb. You're on your way, lad!"

"Glad to hear that," Hiccup smirked, but stopped as he looked around, concerned about something. He then looked to his father and asked, "Hey, where's Draco?"

* * *

**Edge of Berk**

**On the Cliffs**

Hiccup had walked all the way up there, all by himself and getting used to the leg. Toothless was following behind him, making sure that he wouldn't trip and tumble. But so far, Hiccup had begun in mastering the leg much easier than before with his strides. The only thing left for Hiccup to was to get his new leg adjusted to jumping, crouching, and running. Boy, was that gonna hurt like Helheim.

The two were continuing to go forward, until Hiccup spotted the Dragon in question. The two stopped, as they saw Draco sitting near the ledge, just watching the day peacefully. Smiling at the Dragon that had helped show him a new path, Hiccup walked along side Toothless, until the two were beside the mighty Golden Fleece dragon. At first, the Elder Dragon didn't notice them approach, at least that's how it looked. But either way, the two knew that he knew they were next to him.

And then suddenly, Draco chuckled and turned to Hiccup and Toothless, as he asked proudly, "Didn't I say you had greatness in ya, lad?"

"Sure did," Hiccup chuckled silently, and turned to Draco, "Tell you the truth, I was a bit skeptical that I survived that little explosion."

Both Draco and Toothless seemed a bit wary about that, knowing it wouldn't be easy for Hiccup to digest the news. Hiccup saw the looks on both their faces, and looked to Draco for answers, "I… I did survive. Didn't I?"

Draco took a deep sigh, and looked to the young boy, "Hiccup… there's something you need to know."

After thirty minutes in detail to the young Viking, Hiccup was sitting next to Toothless, as Draco explained of the miracle two weeks ago. At first, Hiccup was a bit freaked out about the whole thing. Having a portion of a dragon's own life force inside of him. But in some ways, it seemed to feel right in the boy's mind. But he was buzzing with questions. Unfortunately, he asked one of the dumber questions, at least he thought it was dumb.

"So… does this mean, I also feel his pains as well?" Hiccup asked, as he looked to Draco.

The Elder dragon shook his head as he replied, "No, it was only a small portion of Dragon's life force. In order for you to feel his pain, you'd have to have half of it." this earned a small sigh from Hiccup, but Draco went on, "Though you two will have a link to one another. It'll be faint and it'll come and go from time to time," But Draco smirked at the two as he finished, "Though it's nothing compared to the bond and strength that you already have before."

The two looked to each other, and smirked as Hiccup petted Toothless on the head. "Thanks for saving my life, boy," he said to his dragon, "Twice." and then turned back towards Draco as he stood up and asked, "So… now that Alvin and the Red Death are gone, you got your nest back, what's next?"

Draco chuckled and looked back to Berk, as he sighed, "Well, as I said before, I'm tired of lurking in holes and skulking in darkness. Your father and I agreed the dragons can stay in Berk as the new nest. We could use the mountain's volcanic caverns as the nests while the dragons can roam freely among the village and forests." He then looked to Hiccup as he asked, "What do you plan to do now? You once said you were going to go some place far where you and Toothless could live in peace."

"Y'know…" Hiccup chuckled, looking at the Golden Fleece, "Three months ago, I would've spilt out of here in a second, doing exactly that without a second thought." then he looked down at Berk's village, seeing all the Vikings and Dragons, all working together and living together, and smirked as he looked at Toothless by his side, "But then I met this Night Fury who changed all that." and then he looked to Draco, as he replied, "And uh, then I met this long thought extinct Golden Fleece, who taught me an Old Code on how to know the ways of Honor, and taught me to fly my own path." he returned his gaze to Toothless, and scratched under his chin, gaining a purr from the Night Fury, "That's what I'm gonna do now."

Draco then leaned in, giving the boy a warm smile as he asked, "And, um… what do you see? Down this path of yours?"

The two dragons looked to the young Viking, until finally, he turned to them, and answered with a smile, "A future. For Viking _and_ Dragon."

Toothless nudged him affectionately, as Hiccup petted him on the head. When Hiccup petted the Night Fury on the head, he let out a small pleasured purring growl out of his throat. Draco just smirked, and was all misty eyed as he looked to the boy, almost choking up as he spoke, "Ha. Look at you. Already glowing like a baby dragon's first shot." he sniffed for a moment, as Hiccup and Toothless looked at the elder dragon, and spoke to them both with a proud grin on his face, "You and Toothless are something special, that you are. You two are going to rattle the skies; become legends of your own making."

Then the mighty dragon lowered his head down to Hiccup's, and the young Viking just ran up and hugged his snout. Even Toothless walked up and nudged the Elder's nose affectionately like a son would to his father. Draco patted the boy and Night Fury with his large claw, as a way of hugging them both without crushing either one of them. Then the two pulled apart, as he tried to clear the tear from his eye, "Um, sorry about that, Hiccup. Brimstone in my eyes and all." After he dried them up, he got up, and turned towards the path that the duo took, "C'mon, Hiccup. The others'll be waiting for us."

* * *

**Back in the Village**

The three were walking down back to Berk, entering the village square again. And just as Draco predicted, the others were waiting for him. They all swarmed the duo as the other teens ran and crowded around him. Even Fishlegs seemed to give the Hero of Berk a massive and bone-crushing hug. Syn just playfully gave him a noogie, as the two once-separated-now friends again chuckled in glee. As soon as Hiccup was freed, he just had to smile at this scene, but looked around, asking himself and the others, "Hey, um… where's…?"

Just then, Astrid walked up to him, and punched him in the shoulder, gaining his attention to her. When he saw her, she was pretty miffed as she growled, "That… was for scaring me half to death."

Rubbing his arm, Hiccup argued, "What? What is it with this? Is it always gonna be like this? Because I…"

But he was interrupted as Astrid's anger disappeared as she grabbed him by his collar with her left hand. She pulled him in sharply as she cupped his cheek with her right hand, and their lips touched, forming a deep passionate kiss. She pulled him away, as she smiled softly to him, as he looked stunned.

Breaking the silence, she asked teasingly, "Because you what?"

After a stunned silence, Hiccup shrugged as he smiled, "I… could get used to it."

And to stun her even more, she drew to him in an embracing hug, resting her chin on his shoulder. "I'm glad," she whispered to him, "Don't ever scare me like that again… I love you, Hiccup."

Hiccup, completely stunned by this, smiled again, and returned the hug, whispering, "Ditto."

Just then, Stoick announced to everyone, so everyone could hear this. "Alright, everyone! Listen up! As I once said before, no one was just as surprised, or proud, as I was," Stoick stated as he looked to Hiccup, "But after what has happened the past month, today, Hiccup, my son, doesn't just become a Viking. Today… he becomes a Viking Dragon Rider." he then looked to his son with a proud smile, whom Hiccup returned the smile to, and back to everyone as he stated, "From this day forward, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, will be honored with the title, Hiccup the Useful." and with that title, everyone, Dragon and Viking, cheered on the young boy's new Viking title.

Just then, Gobber walked up, getting the two teens' attention with what he had. In his arms, was a new saddle and harness, along with a new tail fin for Toothless, as well as Hiccup's Red Death tooth sword, and his mother's breast helmet turned shoulder guard.

The Viking said to Hiccup, "Welcome back, lad."

Hiccup smiled as he accepted his old stuff again, and nodded, "Glad to be back."

"Night Fury!" Draco shouted playfully.

This caused Toothless to hop over the other Vikings playfully as he made his way through. He then stopped as he was back near Hiccup, sticking his tongue out and wagging his tail. This made everyone laugh a bit at this little scene.

Then Stoick walked over to his son as he asked, "Hey, son. I'm a little new at the whole Dragon Riding concept, so um…" and pointed to Draco secretly as he whispered, "… think you can give your old man a few pointers?"

Hiccup smirked at this, and to Toothless.

* * *

**Later On**

Hiccup had placed on the harness and saddle on Toothless, as well as the new tail fin, which was red with a white Viking skull on it. He tested out the paddle controls as they worked fine, and looked to the other riders with him. Astrid was on her Nadder, Valkeryie, with a new saddle and harness in place as she sat comfortably on her. He then looked to his dad, whom was saddled on Draco who was ready on this.

He looked to Toothless as he assured, "Get ready, boy." Toothless just nodded, and Hiccup looked out at the village with much glee at this whole change. He then looked to Draco as he asked, "So is this what you were hoping for?"

Draco looked all over the village, and smirked, "Eh, close enough."

Hiccup and Astrid had to smirk at that little joke, but a heartfelt booming laugh came from Stoick on that one. "Alright," Hiccup stated, "Let's ride!"

And then the trio took off, flying overhead above Berk as they made their way. Along the way, it had become a race between Astrid and Hiccup, as the two flew overhead the constructing village, with Stoick behind enjoying the ride. They swooped down at the docks as they made their way over to the bridge, where Syn and Fishlegs were waiting with their Volcanoback and Gronkle. At seeing the two, they joined in at the race, with Fishlegs nearly crashing a few times. And as they all soared in, Snotlout on his Nightmare, Ruffnut and Tuffnut on their Zippleback were flying alongside them all, making a V flight formation.

And then, breaking from the formation, Hiccup and Toothless flew upward into the sky, haling at this new era between humans and dragons.

So if anyone ever asked about Berk, there would only be a few things to know about it. It snowed for seven months, and hailed for only three. The food was grown to be tough and tasteless, and the people even more so. But there were upsides to the island; the only upsides were the pets. While other had ponies, parrots, dogs or cats, they had something better.

They… had dragons.

* * *

**The End**

**Next Chapter: Bonus Story**


	19. Bonus Story

**How to Train Your Dragon: the Novelization**

* * *

**Bonus Chapter: Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon; Gobber's Tall Tales**

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

**Berk**

**Night**

Gobber's blacksmith house was lit ablaze, as the flames danced on the rooftop. The Vikings were working as fast as they could to put it out. After a few weeks of peace after the War had ended, they would have thought that all their troubles had been over. But this just proved to show you or others, no trouble ever ended just like that. Luckily, for the Vikings of Berk, the Hairy Hooligans knew that their lives were basically an occupational hazard.

"Fire!" one of the Firefighting Vikings shouted. "Get the buckets!"

"What happened?" one of the Vikings shouted out in question.

The others rushed in with buckets to help put out the fire. Above them, soaring through the night skies, were the Dragons from the Helheim Gate Dragon Nest. However, they didn't attack like they usually did when they raided for food. Things were different now that they were living with the Vikings in peace. Instead of attacking, several Dragons were swooping down towards the ocean and scooping up water with giant buckets. They were helping to put out the fire.

Among the crowd, giving orders, Stoick and Draco stood side by side, overseeing the firefight. Stoick shouted, "The Wind is shifting! Fire brigade, move on!" He looked upward and saw Astrid, riding her Nadder, Valkeryie, along with other Nadders to put out the fire, "Bring the Nadders in from the south!"

"I'm on it," she shouted as she swooped on down.

The Nadders quickly dumped the buckets and barrels down on the fire, doing their best to put it out as they flew on by. Next were the Nightmares, who swooped down to add more water, with Snotlout and his Nightmare, Fireworm, to lead them.

Draco looked and saw Fishlegs, with his Gronkle, Horrorcow, along with other Gronkles. "Gronkles, aim for the roof!" they did so as they watered the roof, and hovered on by.

Then, swooping at high speed, they heard the familiar high pitched wind blowing. This gave the warning, as one of the Vikings shouted, "NIGHT FURY!"

And with a swift swoop down, a massive splash of water swooped in, as Toothless and Hiccup flew in to do their job. The Night Fury landed, as Hiccup hopped off, as Stoick saw that the fire was dying out. "Good work," he complimented as Hiccup ran over to his father and mentor's side, "Just a few more spots left, and this fire will die down."

Hiccup stopped to them both, as Toothless followed along with him, looking around. "Where's Gobber?" Hiccup asked, looking worried for his Blacksmith master's safety, "Is he still inside?"

"Haven't seen him," Draco answered as he looked around, trying to find the veteran around.

"Can't find him is more like it," Stoick answered, also unable to see any sign of his friend either.

"I'm right here!" Gobber answered, as everyone looked at the Blacksmith house. There, Gobber was fine, as he was loading a wagon up with most of his attachment weapons, while he currently had his harpoon hook attachment on. He looked to everyone, infuriated about something as he pushed the wagon out, rambling on, "That sneaky devious beast is not gonna get away with this. Not this time! Oooh, he's gonna pay for this one. Oh, yes he will!"

"Gobber," Stoick called out to his friend as he was walking to them, "What happened here? What started the fire?"

"What's it look like?" Gobber spat out, as mad as he was, "A dragon swooped on in, and set my house on fire. With me in it!"

The teens gathered around, including their dragons, as they looked to the Dragon Trainer in a confused stupor. Even the dragons seemed confused by this, as Draco asked, "What are you talking about?"

"For thirty-five years this thing has been hunting me down," Gobber blabbered out, as his rage was becoming more of annoyance than fury, "He could attack me on the battlefield, he can attack me on a ship, by Steppenwolf's gut, he could attack me while I'm on the toilet and I'll fight him with my pants down…"

"I doubt anyone would want to see that," Astrid remarked as she stopped at Hiccup's side.

"… but to attack me on my home and island? Now that's the last straw," Gobber shouted as he looked up at the night sky, shaking his hook up in the air, "You've gone too far this time! We end this now! You hear me, you ugly bag of bones?"

At hearing that last part, Stoick sighed in mental exhaustion, as he rubbed his temple. Draco, who looked at the Viking chief's behavior, asked, "What is he talking about?"

"Yeah, Dad," Hiccup asked equally confused, "Our dragons don't do that anymore."

Stoick stopped rubbing his head long enough to sigh, and answer the two, "Nah, he's not talking about one of our dragons." he then looked to Gobber, and lectured him to reason, "Gobber. For thirty-five years, I've put up with this tall tale of yours, but no more. You've got to face facts: there is no such thing as…"

"A Boneknapper?" Gobber finished, looking at his friend telling him it did exist.

All the other Vikings just groaned at this, not believing in the veteran's answer. The teens looked at him in confusion about this, but Fishlegs seemed to psyched up about it. "Wait, a what," Syn asked.

"A Bone-what?" Ruffnut asked.

"A What-knapper?" Tuffnut asked.

Turning towards the teens, Gobber walked over as he explained, "A Boneknapper. A disgusting, foul, and monstrous dragon beast," and pointed to Draco, "About his height, so to speak," and then went back to the description, "It's called the Boneknapper due to the fact that it wears a coat of stolen bones, like a giant, flying skeleton."

"Ooh! Ooh! I've read about that in the Dragon Manual," Fishlegs eagerly confessed, "The Boneknapper is located in the Mystery Section, due to the fact no one's ever seen one. The Manual says that the Boneknapper won't stop at nothing to find the perfect bone to build its coat of armor. It's. Just. Awesome!"

"Come on. It's a myth," Stoick argued, looking skeptical at his friend, "It doesn't even exist."

"Well, actually…" Draco began as all the Vikings looked to him, "It does."

"Oh, not you too, Draco," Stoick nearly whined out.

"It does," Draco defended, "The only reason no one's ever seen one is due to their armor. They mostly spend their time on abandoned battlefields or graveyards, digging through corpses to find the bones they need."

"See? At least the Fleece believes me in that this beast is real," Gobber went on as he looked to the teens, their dragons, his friend and Draco, "But this Boneknapper has been hunting me down most of my life. Ever since I was a teenager. It's what started the fire."

"Stoick," one of the Vikings ran up, catching the chief's attention. The Viking had a stick, holding up a pair of flaming underwear, as he explained, "We found Gobber's underpants hanging over the stove. We think these might've started the fire."

This earned a huge roaring laugh from the village, including the dragons, as Stoick, who wiped away a tear, asked, "Still think the Boneknapper did this, or just your underpants?"

"I don't think! I know!" Gobber defended, "This Dragon has been hunting me its whole life, and somehow he's found me again. This thing is pure evil, it is."

Stoick just sighed as he shook his head, "Gobber, it's late. And we're all too tired to hear anymore of you tall tale stories."

"Fine, I'll hunt it down myself," Gobber huffed, and went to his wagon, "I'm putting an end to this feud once and for all." he then wheeled over to where a lamb was, where the trail to the docks were, "C'mon, Phil. We don't need their help for this." and then he and the lamb, named Phil, made their way down to the docks.

Everyone else were getting ready to go home and go to bed. The only one who watched Gobber leave was Hiccup, who looked in concern for his Blacksmith teacher. In truth, he thought he was just as crazy, but felt sorry for him, because no one, aside from Draco, believed that this Boneknapper was more than just a mere legend. He then felt Toothless nudge him, as he looked to his dragon. The dragon gave him a tilt of his head, pointing to where Gobber was going, and looked down the path. Sighing, Hiccup nodded.

Astrid, who walked over to him, knew that smirk on her boyfriend's face as she sighed, "You're going after him, aren't you?"

Hiccup sighed as he crossed his arms, "I can't let him do this by himself." taking a deep breath, he looked around, seeing the others still there, and gave out a half-smirk, "Alright, Vikings, grab your shields and weapons. We're going hunting."

The Viking teens cheered at this, high-fiving one another, but Snotlout wasn't the most enthusiastic about this, "There's no way I'm getting on a boat to go after a fake dragon."

* * *

**The Next Morning**

The teens, including Snotlout, where halfway towards heading to the Helheim Gates. They were on a boat with Gobber, ordering them with every row and stroke of the paddles. Toothless was with them, doing his part, by using one of his wings as a paddle, rowing along with them. Though at this point, the teens weren't really sure what was gonna kill them first. The non-unsure fake Boneknapper, or Gobber's rowing orders.

"Stroke," Gobber continued to order as he steered the ship, "C'mon, put your backs into it, you lazy dogs! Stroke! C'mon, you're not even trying!"

"If this keeps up, one of us will have a stroke," Syn joked, though the strain of rowing prevented her to chuckle or smile from it.

"Well, isn't this great?" Hiccup tried to lighten the mood, "We got the team back together again, going on another adventure to the Helheim Gates…" he shrugged, "Yep. This is pretty cool."

"Yep," Snotlout sarcastically commented, "Nothing cooler than rowing until your hands bleed."

"I just want you kids to know that it touches my heart," Gobber confessed getting all choked up, "You helping me slay the Boneknapper," and pointed to Toothless, "You too, boy." and sniffled a bit, "True Vikings, you all are."

"Gobber," Ruffnut grunted as she rowed, "Are we there yet?"

"Oh, you'll know when you hear the bone-chilling screams," Fishlegs answered as he explained, "Legend has it that this dragon's roar is so fierce, it's known to melt flesh right off the bone."

"There's something I haven't figured out," Astrid asked as she looked to Gobber, "If what you said is true about the Boneknapper, how come you were never ready for it? I mean, its roar had to have been a dead giveaway when it was nearby."

"Well, that's the thing Astrid," Gobber pointed out as he explained to them all, "The Boneknapper _doesn't_ have a roar at all. _That's _why he's so deadly." he narrowed his eyes as he made it evident the dragon they were hunting down was dangerous, "He's a _silent_ killer."

"Wait," Syn asked, feeling a little scared about this, "So if we don't hear a roar, or much less anything… we're dead?"

That caused everyone to stop what they were doing, even Toothless, and look around. It was silent as they looked around, trying to find any sign of a dragon that would attack them. The only audible sound that was heard was the creaking of the boat they were on, and the small splashes of the waves softly hitting the side of the ship. If this Boneknapper was a silent dragon, then death would be not far from them at all.

"I don't hear anything," Tuffnut replied in a whisper.

Syn rolled her eye as she sarcastically huffed, "Wow, really?"

"BAAAH!"

"AAAAAH!" everyone shouted, as they looked behind them, and saw Phil, merely munching on some of the supplies. This earned a sigh of relief from everyone, but they all heard Gobber chuckle at the small spook.

"Good one, Phil," Gobber chuckled, but stopped as he looked eager to tell a tale, "Ho-eh. Did I ever tell you the time I first met, the Boneknapper?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure you're gonna tell us anyway," Hiccup sighed.

* * *

_Thirty-Five Years Ago_

_Off the Coast of Iceland_

"I was a young lad, about your age, on summer vacation with my family."

_A Viking ship was crossing the icy waters of the ice and mountainous iceberg landscape of Iceland… in summer. There, aboard the ship, a mighty blonde haired Viking, with Gobber's mustache, and wearing a bear pelt over his shoulders, and a serious glint in his eyes. Next to him, a Viking woman who was using a shield to sunbathe was by his side as the male Viking rowed. These were the parents of Gobber, who was in the back rowing. _

_The young Gobber was of Fishlegs and Snotlout's build, and wore his usual attire even as an adult. Only he didn't have the mustache, fake tooth, and he had his left hand and right foot. _

"That's when I heard the call of nature."

_His face scrunched up and his legs crossed one another, as he groaned out, "Dad, pull over."_

_The ship did so, but as Gobber hopped off, racing to do his business, his dad called out, "Didn't I tell you to go before we left?"_

_After he had finished his business, far away from his father's ship, and armed with only his axe, young Gobber was on his way back to the boat. But he stopped as soon as he spotted an ice wall. Immediately, he ran over to it and was in complete awe at what he was looking at. Frozen into the wall, an army of Vikings were in clear display; from what they were fighting before, no one knew._

"I saw an army of Vikings, frozen in battle."

_Then Gobber stopped as he saw their leader, holding out a small golden treasure chest, with the design of a dragon skeleton on it._

"And from one of the Vikings, I saw in his hands, a small golden treasure chest."

_A gleam in the boy's eyes was shown, as a small smile spread on his face._

"I knew I had to have it."

_He roared out as he chopped at the ice, until he made a hole big enough. He reached in and pulled out the chest, and opened it. The contents seemed to glow as Gobber's eyes were as wide as saucers, and his smile didn't disappear._

"I reached in and pulled out the chest. It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw."

_Then suddenly, a hand grabbed his right arm, surprising Gobber. He looked and saw that the hand came from the frozen Viking… who was still alive. Clutching his hand, the frozen Viking punched Gobber in the face, causing his tooth to get knocked out._

"But the Frozen Viking was still alive! And he punched me right in the face."

"_Argh! My tooth," Young Gobber groaned as he felt his tooth gone._

_But the Frozen Viking pointed upward, getting Gobber's attention. The boy looked up, and was nearly frozen in fear._

"And there it was. I didn't even hear it coming until it was too late."

_A monstrous silhouette flew in, for Young Gobber to see it._

"The Boneknapper."

_Young Gobber dodged out of the way, before the Boneknapper swooped into grab him. But missing, the dragon smashed into the frozen wall, creating an avalanche that Gobber had to run away from. Ice, snow, and Frozen Vikings were coming towards him, including the still airborne dragon, who swooped in again. But Gobber ducked in time to evade the dragon's reach. He crashed into the ground, letting go of the chest, as it hit the water. Gobber spotted it, and ran to the edge of the icy landscape. He reached in and saved the treasure from sinking._

_Unfortunately, the same frozen Viking from before, was floating there, and punched Gobber in the face again._

_The Boneknapper suddenly appeared behind him, snatching the chest along with Gobber still holding onto it._

"The Boneknapper wanted that treasure. But I wanted it more."

_The two were heading straight into an ice wall, with a small crack big enough for someone to fit into it. Seeing this, Gobber was able to snatch free, and flew through the hole. The Boneknapper smashed into the wall, as Gobber sped through the ice. On the other side, a ramp was made from the ice, that sent Gobber flying back, and crashed into the boat, to where his parents awaited his return._

_Unaware of what had happened, his father asked, "What took you so long?"_

_Gobber, not wanting to tell of the tale, hid the treasure chest, and merely chuckled in nervousness._

* * *

**Present**

Gobber chuckled from the memory of that fateful day. The other Vikings, looked at him with slight disbelief and confusion at this. Even Toothless seemed a bit skeptic about this, as his left ear drooped to his side and a cocked eyebrow was shown.

Breaking the silence, Snotlout, who didn't believe it, asked, "You expect us to believe that a frozen Viking punched you in the face?"

Gobber shrugged, "Yeah. Twice."

Astrid looked to Hiccup for an answer, but all he did was shrug and looked to everyone in defense for Gobber, "Hey, it could happen."

"What do you mean, 'it could'?" Gobber asked as he defended, "It _did_ happen!"

"Gobber, I hate to be a stickler for details," Fishlegs started, "But Boneknappers are not silent."

"I know what I didn't hear, Fishlegs," Gobber stated.

As the veteran Viking warrior was going on, Syn sighed as she looked over the side. Then, she went wide eye as she saw them, slowly approaching the shores of the Helheim Gate Dragon Nest island. She turned around and saw no one noticing this, as Gobber was going on about how he could sniff danger approaching. "Um, guys?" she called out, trying to get their attention, but not succeeding.

"… I have a sixth sense for danger."

"Guys."

"I can smell it approaching."

"Guys, we're gonna hit…"

SLAM!

The ship crashed into the rocky shore, as nearly everyone was tossed around. With Toothless's tail on her head, Syn pushed it aside, as she groaned, "Land, ho."

Astrid got up, and looked over the side, "Um, I taste rock over here."

Toothless got up, and groaned, and looked what was in his mouth. Somehow, bones had gotten in there, as he spat them out immediately. That caught everyone's attention as they looked at where Toothless was looking at. There, alongside the shore, were bones, of different creatures and dragons, all laid strewn on the sandy and rocky land, to floating on the shoreline. It was evident, they had found the Dragon's graveyard. The supposed home of the Boneknapper Dragon.

Gobber looked in satisfaction for his soon to be revenge, "We're here."

* * *

**Helheim Shores**

**Dragon Graveyard**

Everyone had gotten off the boats, with all their weapons and shields on them, ready to take anything on. The only thing they couldn't get were the supplies, which they had left on the ship. And the ship, which had all the supplies, was sinking down into the ocean. No supplies, no boat, and no way home… they were trapped.

"Great," Ruffnut huffed as she fastened her double head spear staff to her back, "Now, we're stuck in the middle of nowhere," and rejoined to where everyone else was at this point, which was a clear sandy and rocky circle to which everyone was gearing up, "And to top it all off, no one knows we're even here."

"Except the Boneknapper," Fishlegs replied as he fidgeted with his Battle Hammer, "Legends says that…"

"Hey, you know what Legends also says?" Snotlout asked as he set his Mace to his side, "Stop talking!"

Astrid set her axe down her side as she sat next to Hiccup, who was fastening his Battle Gauntlet with his sword, Fang on his back. "Hiccup, can you and Toothless go back to Berk and get another ship?"

"We could," Hiccup replied, "But without another dragon here, we can't locate you guys by Toothless's sonar alone."

"So then we're stuck here?" Syn asked, panic was laced in her eye as she strapped the last homemade grenade to her belt, "See? This is why I said we get everyone else's dragon to go along with us." she sighed as she plopped on a rock nearby, "I miss Smokescreen already."

"Ah, don't worry, kids," Gobber calmly replied as he sat down, and sharpened his hook with a rock nearby, "I've been stranded on many islands many times."

"Gee, that's reassuring," Hiccup remarked.

Gobber chuckled as he began again, "I think that was the second time the Boneknapper found me again." He sighed, feeling all warm and tingly inside, "You never forget your first shipwreck."

* * *

**25 Years Ago**

**Caribbean Isles**

_A twenty-five year old Gobber stood, looking around for a way off the deserted island that he was on. His hair was mid length, giving him a sort of rocker look to him, and a braided beard, with only a small stubble for a mustache. He had with him his fake rock/metal tooth in place of his missing one._

"I was stranded on an island, with nothing to arm myself but a broom."

_He pulled up his left hand, which was now his prosthetic attachment hand… with only a sweep broom attachment. Gobber grumbled at this turn of events as he looked around the small one foot island he was on._

"It was a rather small island. But it wasn't small enough for the Boneknapper to not notice I was on it."

_Gobber looked up, and saw the silhouette of the Boneknapper closing in on him._

"It was obvious he never forgave me for snatching the treasure from him."

_The Boneknapper missed him as he swooped down to swipe at him. The Boneknapper disappeared into the clouds, but much to Gobber's luck, he spotted it. A much larger island was only a few yards away from him. _

"But my luck, there was another island. Unfortunately, I was surrounded by bloodthirsty hammerhead sharks."

_Gobber saw the sharks popping up out of the water, waiting to sink their teeth into him. But Gobber had another problem, as the Boneknapper was coming in for another swipe. Gobber smirked confidently, as he jumped out, and started running on the Hammerhead's heads. The sharks that had a chance attacked him, but Gobber was too sharp as he fought them tooth to fist and broom._

"_Take that! Watch it! Night-night, Fatty," Gobber called out as he smashed, punched, and swatted his way through the shark-infested waters. When one of the sharks was in front of him, he used his brush to scrub the shark's teeth, "Somebody forgot to brush!" When the shark's teeth were clean, he punched it right in the face._

_Gobber leapt towards the island, with the Boneknapper closing in behind him._

"I didn't think I was gonna make it. But suddenly, out from the depths of the ocean, leapt forth…"

_A giant Sperm Whale, with hammerhead featured eyes, shot out of the water behind the Boneknapper with his mouth opened, almost about to swallow the dragon whole._

"… a giant Hammerhead Whale!"

* * *

**Present**

Astrid, Hiccup, Toothless, and Fishlegs looked at Gobber, with a slight disbelief at that last part of the story. But the one to break the silence, and believe that part, was Fishlegs, "Whoa! And the Hammerhead Whale swallowed the Boneknapper?"

"Nah, the Boneknapper got away," Gobber answered. "But the whale was close. Then the Boneknapper found me and chased me down a third time in the jungle of the New World. I think this was about twenty years ago…"

* * *

**20 Years Ago**

**Guatemala Jungles**

_A thirty year old Gobber ran through the thick jungle. His mid length hair was braided, he now had a small braided mustache and a braided beard. And this time, his attachment was an old fashioned egg-beater._

"All I had with me at the time, was my trusty eggbeater."

_When he spotted the Boneknapper stomping towards him at full speed, he ran for it. He used his eggbeater to clear a path through the jungle. He eggbeater through that forest like crazy, plowing his way through like crazy._

"I cut my way through the jungle, like a jungle cat. But still the Boneknapper was behind me."

_The Boneknapper tried to snap at him, but Gobber was proving must faster. He lost it for a moment, as he smacked his way through the clearing. But he stopped as soon as he saw a bush of flowers. He smiled as he plucked one up and sniffed at it._

"_Oh, Azaleas," he smiled as he sniffed the flower._

_But he stopped as he saw the Boneknapper closing in on him. Then, they came through the clearing, as Gobber ran up to what appeared to be a volcano._

"I ran up the side of a volcano, and courageously leapt over the lava-filled and fiery crater."

_Gobber shouted in craziness as he leapt over the open pit of molten lava. The Boneknapper took flight, and was about to snap at Gobber… when something shot out of the volcano._

"Then deep within the volcano, bursting forth was…"

_A giant yak with hammerhead features, shot out as he attempted to grab the Boneknapper's tail._

"… a giant Hammerhead Yak!"

* * *

**Present**

"Okay, wait a minute," Tuffnut interrupted.

Everyone had been listening to the story, not believing this last part, except for Fishlegs, who was on edge with it. But Tuffnut was making this evident as he cocked an eyebrow, looking at Gobber like he had lost his mind, "Now you're saying that a giant hammerhead yak, leapt out of a fiery volcano… and ate the Boneknapper?"

"No, that's just ridiculous," Gobber shot out, "Yaks are vegetarians. But aside from that, despite the yak popping up, the Boneknapper got away again." he then looked serious as he went on, "I knew he would come after me again, so I was getting myself ready for the next time he would attack."

18 Years Ago

Snow Covered Mountains of the Highlands

_Gobber, now thirty-two years old, with his hair shortened, and his mustache at its now present length, was working hard on the snow-covered Cliffside. He opened up bear traps, and set up a deadfall trap as well, with the weight five times of the target._

"I set up a gauntlet of traps, and waited for the beast to show up."

_Gobber sat down, and pulled out his newest attachment… a guitar. And he strung a Spanish tune befitting that of Zorro. He played as he waited for the Boneknapper to show._

"And when he was ready… he charged! And I ran!"

_The Boneknapper appeared, and ran towards Gobber. Gobber ran for it, leading the Boneknapper towards the traps as he avoided them. When the Boneknapper ran through them, the traps went off, but didn't stop the dragon._

"But the traps failed to stop him!"

_Gobber saw this in shock, but stopped as he realized he reached the edge of the cliff. Trapped, the Boneknapper pinned Gobber down, with no where left to run anymore._

"Trapped, I did what any brave Viking would do."

"_Help," Gobber shouted out in a squeaky high-toned voice._

_Suddenly, the clouds parted as a muscled Viking, wearing a blue and gold ensemble appeared, with long blonde hair, a mighty horned helmet, and a mighty steel hammer appeared._

"Just then, the Gods must have heard my prayer. Because there, appearing from out of the clouds… it was Thor himself. He hurled a mighty thunderbolt."

_Gobber saw the Viking God of Thunder and was in awe. The mighty Thor shot his hammer at the icy ground below, shooting a mighty lightning bolt, only to miss the dragon and hit the ground instead._

"_Ah, you missed," Gobber shot back._

_But Thor shook his head as he replied, "Wait for it…"_

"Then, from the center of the Earth, blasted forth…"

_Suddenly, the ground rumbled, and something shot out of the hole…_

"… the Hammerhead Yak… _riding_ the Hammerhead Whale!"

_And sure enough, the Yak was riding the Hammerhead whale like a bronco. And to make it more weird, the Yak shouted out, "Deploy the Yak!" and morphed his body into a missile, as the whale's blowhole shot him towards the Boneknapper. Near the beast, the Yak smacked, smashed, and beat up the Boneknapper._

_Doing a turn in the air, the Whale shot back at the Boneknapper, swallowing it whole, freeing Gobber. As the Viking saw the whale and yak for the last time, the Yak waved him goodbye, and the whale saluted him._

_Gobber saluted back, and the two creatures disappeared. Standing back up, Gobber shouted in victory, "YES!" but hunched over as a cracking sound was audible, "Ack! My back!"_

* * *

**Present**

The young Vikings, and Night Fury, looked at Gobber, almost as if he had lost his mind… _completely_… after hearing the latest tale of his encounter with the Boneknapper.

"The whale saluted you?" Fishlegs asked with a cocked eyebrow, unsure if the latest story was true.

"The yak talked?" Syn asked as well.

"Thor came to your rescue?" Astrid asked, not believe this, but asked anyway.

Gobber cackled in excitement, "AHAHA! Can you believe it? But the Boneknapper got away again. He found me on…"

"Oh, just stop it," Syn cried out, not believing this anymore.

"Are you kidding?" Snotlout agreed, "That's the fakest thing I've ever heard."

"You totally made everything up," Ruffnut included.

Then Tuffnut shot out, "You don't even have proof that this dragon even exists."

"Of course I do," Gobber answered, as he stood up, "I still have the treasure I found when I was fifteen. This stunning belt buckle." he lifted the flap of his pants to reveal the buckle that held his pants up. It was a small bone in a stylized T-shape, as Gobber explained, "It was in the treasure chest the frozen Viking had. It's kept my pants up ever since."

"It is stunning," Fishlegs commented.

Hiccup sighed at this whole thing, but Astrid lightly nudged him, getting his attention. The look on her face told him to tell Gobber that they had to get out of there. Nodding, Hiccup walked over as he decided to change his mentor's mind, "Um, Gobber… instead of chasing after an imaginary Dragon, maybe we should all focus on how to get out of here."

"Say no more; I read you loud and clear. Besides, I already have a plan," Gobber replied, seeming to agree with Hiccup, as he stood up and looked around everyone, "Alright! Who wants to be Dragon Bait?" and pointed out in the crowd.

Everyone turned to look behind them, and saw Fishlegs and Phil, whom the latter scooted away, leaving only a surprised Fishlegs.

* * *

**Thirty Minutes Later**

Fishlegs was standing out into the open, in disguise. He was wearing a skull piece with horns that looked a lot like the ones on Gobber's helmet, wearing a bone peg leg, holding a rib in the shape of a hook, and had rope tied around his face to make it look like Gobber's mustache. Above him was a giant ribcage hanging over him by a rope, in which from afar away distance, Phil was by the trip wire that held it up. Behind the rock that held the Ribcage up, Syn was waiting on top of Toothless.

Fishlegs looked to where Gobber was, about five hundred yards from him, and shouted, "Um, Gobber? Are you sure this thing is safe?"

"Ah, Safety is overrated," Gobber stated, and turned his attention to the others that were with him. "Alright, here's the plan: the Boneknapper is after me, right?" he pointed to an open trail, "He comes down that way and sees Fishlegs, who thinks it's me, rushes Fishlegs, causing Phil to trip that rope, by that time, Syn and Toothless will rush in, grab Fishlegs, and the ribcage will come down on the Boneknapper, and we all rush in to finish him off once and for all. When he's dead, we take the rope, lash him and a few more bones together, make a raft out of his carcass, and sail back to Berk."

All the teens looked skeptical at the veteran once again, and Snotlout whispered to Tuffnut, "It's just sad when they get old."

Hiccup sighed in exasperation, figuring out how his dad felt about this whole Boneknapper fiasco. "Gobber, you're taking this way too far," Hiccup sighed, trying to clear the Viking's head through, "You have to face facts: there is no such thing or dragon as the Boneknapper."

"Wormswquat!" Gobber shot back, "Get into position."

With that, the others leaned in behind rocks together, but Astrid pointed out, "No wonder the whole village thinks you're insane!"

"Why not?" Snotlout commented, "He sees dead frozen Vikings punching him in the face. Twice."

Fishlegs was nervously looking around, and Syn was bored to tears along with Toothless. But they were the only ones to see it happen. From the massive bone piles, they saw two light green cat eyes from the bone piles. Then, the pile silently erupted as a massive figure shook off all the excess bones off, and silently stomped from behind the unsuspecting Vikings.

"Um, guys," Fishlegs nervously called out, but no one listened, as they continued to argue Gobber's tall tale.

"Guys," Syn called out, but no one listened.

Toothless roared out to get their attention, but nothing, until finally, all three called out, "GUYS!"

"WHAT?" everyone shouted at the trio.

It wasn't until they heard the rattling of bones from behind them, that they all went wide eyed. Hiccup sighed as he commented, "It's right behind us, isn't it?"

There, they saw it, right behind them and towering above them, was a massive Wyvern Dragon, with the structure of a T-Rex. It was enough to be around twenty-five or thirty feet in height, and no more than sixty feet in length from nose to tail, with an impressive twenty foot wingspan. It had an elongated neck, and a mouth of sharp teeth, with bones outside added to it. Its body was colored a pale green scale of sorts, but mostly it was covered in bones. Some bones covered the outer side of its legs, while some bone spikes adorned its knee joints and armored its already sharp toe claws. Covering the chest was a bone made chest guard, and on its back, a massive bone collection forming spikes on its back, as well as two sides of a jaw adorning its shoulders. Covering the bone parts of its wings, were sharp bones as well. Completely covering its tail were more bones, and the tip was a mace made entirely of different bones; sharp or blunt. Covering its neck, more bones, and from upper and lower jaw, each was covered by the top of a dragon's skull. The top skull however, had antelope like horns on it, with only the right one halfway broken. On the lower skull jaw, the sharp and saber tooth teeth already added to its sharpened gnaw, and on both skull pieces, one horn was present on both sides. The dragon looked down upon them with its green cat eyes. There, looking down on them, spreading its wings out, was the mysterious dragon that was brought into question of its existence: the Dreaded Boneknapper.

The Vikings nearly wetted themselves as the beast opened its mouth, rattling its bones… and let out a small chipmunk wheezing roar.

Fishlegs shrugged as he commented, "Well, what do you know? No roar."

"Run!" Gobber shouted.

The Boneknapper charged right at them, causing the Vikings to make a run for it. But it stopped, as instead of roaring, it unleashed a massive stream of flames that nearly cooked them all.

"Okay, Gobber, we believe you now," Astrid shouted, "Now how do we stop it?"

"I've been trying to think of a way for thirty-five years now," Gobber shot back, "I don't know how to beat it!"

As they ran towards Fishlegs, Syn and Toothless, the Boneknapper swatted the ground with its tail. It created a blast wave of air that sent everyone flying towards the trio. Phil kicked the bone the rope was holding the cage on to. This caused the cage to come falling down on the Vikings, trapping them in place.

"Phil!" Gobber shouted.

But they turned their attention back to the Boneknapper, as it charged after them. It stopped at the cage, and blasted away at them. The Vikings took cover on the ribs, as the flames past them all unscathed.

Snotlout was freaking out as he chanted, "Find the happy place. Find the happy place."

The Boneknapper jumped on the ribcage, trying to break the cage open. It hopped off as it smashed into it, trying to break the ribs loose. The other Vikings, minus Hiccup and Astrid, and Gobber, were freaking out on what to do. This was their first encounter with such a dangerous dragon. And from what Gobber had been telling them about, they were in deep trouble.

"No, no, no, please, please," Fishlegs pleaded, "It wants my head! It looked at me, and I swear it definitely wants my head!"

"C'mon, Bonehead!" Gobber taunted, "You want a piece of me? I'm right here!"

"Where's that Hammerhead Yak or Whale when you need them the most?" Tuffnut shouted.

"Forget the Yak and Whale," Syn shouted, "We need Thor!"

As everyone was trying their best to deal with this situation, Hiccup looked around, hoping to find something to help in this. But as he looked around, it was then that he took notice of something. Looking at the Boneknapper, he noticed a small gap in the Boneknapper's chest coat. it was unmistakably shaped like Gobber's belt buckle. He looked at Gobber's belt buckle, and noticed the shape of it… as well as the fact that it was _made_ out of _bone_. It was then that Hiccup the Useful had figured it all out.

"Wait a minute," he told himself as he pieced it all together, "It searches… for the perfect bone… to complete its coat of armor." He smiled, figuring it all out, "That's it! The treasure!" He looked to Gobber as he ordered, "Gobber, take off your pants!"

Gobber stopped his rants and dares at the Boneknapper as he looked to Hiccup, completely clueless, "What?"

Toothless stopped his growl at the Boneknapper, and looked to Hiccup, growling with a raised eyebrow.

However, when everyone heard that, they all looked in fear to Hiccup as they all pleaded at once, "NO!"

Hiccup shook his head at that last part, "No, that's not what I meant." He walked over to Gobber as he explained, "Look, Gobber, I think Fishlegs was right about the Boneknapper having a roar." and pointed at the Boneknapper's chest coat, as it tried to pull the ribcage open with his teeth, "But it can't roar because its coat of bones is incomplete," and looked to Gobber, "And the bone he's been looking to complete it was and _always_ has been your belt buckle, Gobber."

"Are you telling me he's been after me," Gobber asked skeptical about this as he pointed to his belt buckle, "All because of this?"

"Gobber, what if Hiccup's right?" Astrid defended as she encouraged it, "You have to give it back to him."

"No way," Gobber refused.

"Gobber, this thing has been chasing you for all of its life," Syn defended, "Just give it back to him and it'll be the end of it."

"Yeah," Hiccup encouraged, "Once he has it, he'll leave you alone."

"Forget it," Gobber shot out stubbornly, "It's mine. If he wants it, he'll have to pry it from my cold, dead, corpse." and as if granting his wish, the Boneknapper broke through, and bit down on Gobber's peg leg, as Gobber gulped, "Oh no."

The Boneknapper pulled him out, and began to shake the Viking around, like a dog shook at a newspaper. Hiccup shouted to the shouting Viking, "Give him back his bone!"

"No!" Gobber shouted stubbornly.

"Give him back his bone, Gobber," Astrid shouted.

"Nooooo!" Gobber continued to deny that request.

Finally, everyone shouted together, "GIVE HIM BACK HIS BONE, GOBBER!"

And then finally, the Boneknapper threw Gobber up into the air as the Viking shouted in slow motion, "NOOOOO… Alright." And finally conceded as he detached his belt buckle and threw it at the Boneknapper.

Amazingly, the piece landed into the open port, completing the coat of bones. The Boneknapper felt this, just as Gobber crashed into a pile of bones. As he got out, he and the teens, plus Night Fury, all witnessed the Boneknapper's completed coat of bones. Celebrating this, the dragon opened its mouth, took in air… and unleashed the most powerful sounding roar anyone ever heard. When it was over, the teens nearly shook a bit.

"Well, my skin didn't melt off," Ruffnut commented, "But it's crawling."

"Same thing," Fishlegs commented.

"Gobber!" Hiccup shouted in fear, as everyone looked at what was about to happen.

Just then, they all saw the Boneknapper stomping towards Gobber, and lowered its head towards him. It looked like the dragon still had not let go of its thirty-five year grudge with the Viking. Sighing, Gobber got up, and spoke to it, "All right. You've got me. Make it fast."

… and then the Boneknapper nudged his gnaw at Gobber, like a dog snuggling with its master. It purred as it nudged at the Viking's side, surprising Gobber much with the Feared Dragon's new behavior towards him. This surprised Gobber much, as did the others. Unfortunately, the Boneknapper's snuggling caused Gobber's pants to fall down, revealing his white underpants.

The others shunned back, some crying or groaning in disgust, even Toothless gagged out with his tongue sticking out, as Hiccup complimented, "That's gonna give me nightmares."

Astrid just smirked as she pointed to the Boneknapper, "Well, at least everyone else has a ride home."

Gobber began to scratch the Boneknapper's lower jaw, as the dragon fell to its side, and kicked the air, like a pleased puppy. Gobber chuckled at this, "Aren't you cute? Yes you are, yes you are."

* * *

**Halfway to Berk**

Far away from Berk, or rather, high up soaring above the clouds, Toothless was steadily flying in the air, with Hiccup on his back, steering him, with Astrid holding on to him for support.

However, they weren't alone, as the Boneknapper swooped up right in front of the three young ones. His mighty wings flapped in the air, allowing the mighty bone coated dragon to soar in the sky with no challenge or battle against gravity to be a problem. But as the beast soared through the cloud-filled and spacious airway, it wasn't alone. For riding on the mighty and mysterious dragon's back, Gobber was steering the big fellah, with Syn, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins were all on it, holding onto the dragon by some of the bone spikes to act as makeshift reins and saddles, with Phil resting on the Boneknapper's head.

As they flew back to Berk, Snotlout commented to Syn, "You know, I never doubted him. I was always like, 'He's right'."

She chuckled sarcastically, "Sure you did."

"Ouch," Tuffnut shot out, "This tailbone's hurting my tailbone."

The Boneknapper roared out happily, as Hiccup pointed out alongside Gobber, "He sure sounds happy with his bone back."

"Well, legend says that the Boneknapper's roar does act as its mating call," Fishlegs pointed out.

"Ah, that's just a myth," Gobber chuckled.

But then, they all heard the roars of Bonknappers from behind them, as they all looked behind them. And there, a flock of Boneknappers were flying behind them. This caused Astrid to chuckle as she commented to Hiccup, "You know, I think your dad's gonna have to believe about the Boneknapper now."

"Ya think?" Gobber chuckled as they all flew straight back to Berk, along with the newest batch of dragons behind them.

Then from afar behind them, something shot out of the water. The Hammerhead Whale, saluting to the Vikings and Boneknappers, along with the Hammerhead Yak, who waved goodbye.

* * *

**Well, hope you've enjoyed this HTTYD story, as much as I've had much enjoyment writing it. Next on the HTTYD story list is Legend of the Riders.**

**Voice Cast:**

**Hiccup: Jay Baruchel**

**Stoick: Gerald Butler**

**Gobber: Craig Ferguson**

**Astrid: America Ferrera**

**Fishlegs: Christopher Mintz-Plasse**

**Snotlout: Jonah Hill**

**Syn: Myley Cirus**

**Ruffnut: Kristen Wiig**

**Tuffnut: TJ Miller**

**Draco: Sean Connery**

**Unfer/Alvin: David Thewlis**


	20. Bonus trailer

_Standing atop the roof of a mansion, a young boy looks at the view. On his shoulder, a snow white ermine is on there, as he sighed, _"Wow. What a view." _he nods as he crosses his arms in decision, _"Yep. This is the ideal home for us. That's it, Chamo. We're living in a mansion with a view."

* * *

**Stone-Man85 Productions and Walt Disney studios**

_The place was somewhere in London and a great gathering was commencing all around. There was old fashioned music, and everyone was dressed in stuffy outfits as if it was during the old days of London, England. Even the blonde girl with the blue dress wasn't having the best of times. Then, a red-headed boy popped up, and talked to her as if she would obey his orders._

"Alice," _the boy started to bark an order calmly, _"Meet me at the gazebo in precisely ten minutes."

_The two were now standing in a gazebo, with the boy on his knees, and asked, _"Alice Liddell. Will you be my fiancé, and future wife?"

_The fourteen year old girl looked confused, looking to the boy, and to the large crowd looking at them, awaiting her answer. One boy, who was sitting up in a nearby tree, with a snow-white ermine on his shoulder, were watching the poor girl in trouble._

"Well, um," _Alice started to answer, trying to find the words, _"This is… all so sudden… I… I need a moment." _and dashed off into the hedge maze._

_Alice ran into the forest, and stopped as she sighed, sitting next to a tree. A few minutes later, the boy and ermine are with Alice, whom she seemed to be more comfortable around. And just when it seemed that the two were about to share a cosmic moment with one another…_

… _a hole opens beneath them, as the two are sucked down a rabbit hole, going down separate ways._

**Fade to Black**

_Alice, the size of a doll, and dressed in oversized rags torn from her dress, steps outside in amazement at the world before her. _

_In a canyon, stands a tall castle colored red and white, with heart designs on it, in a gloomy canyon and nearly dead valley._

_Elsewhere, is a dark castle, as if it came from Hell, perched on the side of a tall black mountain of darkness._

There is a place…

_The boy, Riley, who shrank as well with rags for clothing, was traveling alongside his now much larger ermine, along with the Tweedles, the Dormouse, Dodo, and the White Rabbit._

… like no place on Earth.

_The Red Queen's court, with the Red Queen, the Knave, and a black and gray dressed young man, look in front of them as the court doors open._

… or beyond it.

_The Cheshire Cat's head floats in a darkened forest, its grin never disappearing._

A land of Wonder, Mystery, and Danger…

_Red Armor Card troops storm, ransacking anything and imprisoning anything as well._

_The same cloaked black and gray boy extends his left arm forward, and seemingly snakes slither all around, about to strike at someone._

_A young fourteen year old girl in red and black, looks out on a balcony with a regular sized Riley, in an orange and black outfit._

Some say in order to survive it…

_Alice and Riley, both in different paths at different times… are headed towards a table with loads of teapots on them._

You need to be as 'Mad as a Hatter'.

_A top had is resting on the table, until it was picked up by someone…_

Which luckily…

_The Mad Hatter, now awaken, looks at Alice, although she was a different age from when she last came there, easily recognizes her. He smiles brightly at this reunion._

… _I_ am.

_Alice turns around, as the Hatter speaks up, _"Alice. It's you."

_The Hatter casually walks on the table, knocking a few teapots and trays down. He then reached the end as he hopped off, and kneels before her as he looked down at her, and smiled, "_You're back."

"Alice," _the March Hare asked, pulling his ears down._

"Alice," _the Dormouse called out._

"Alice," _Riley called out, looking rather distraught._

"Alice!" _the ermine, Chamo, shouted out frantically._

"Alice," _the Knave, Stayne, replied, knowing who she was._

"Alice," _the boy in black hissed at this turn of events._

"Alice,_" Jacqueline, the Princess of Hearts, asked, almost excited by this name._

"Alice,"_ a purple haired girl cried out, hugging the girl._

"Alice," _a dark haired woman wearing a red dress hissed._

"Alice?" _a voodoo witchdoctor asked, his interest seeming devious as his twisted and living shadow._

"Alice?" _a periwinkle-colored haired boy asked, looking rather nervously, and a purple creature on his back grumbled, _"Alice."

"_The_ Alice?" _the Cheshire Cat asked._

"You're absolutely Alice," _the Hatter answered, still smiling to see his friend yet again, _"I'd know you anywhere."

"Whoa!_" Riley asked, _"What's going on?"

"You're all late for tea!" _the March Hare shouted as he threw a tea cup at them. With the Hatter dodging it in time._

**From the 1951 animation of the Original Alice in Wonderland**

**And the creative imaginations of Stone-Man85 and Tim Burton**

"Alice has returned to Wonderland," _the Red Queen announced to those in her power._

_A giant creature smashed through the forest, hunting down the shrunken Alice, and later on Riley._

"Since you've been gone," _the Hatter explained, _"The Red Queen and the Black Queen have been fighting one another over power and control of Wonderland."

_The Black Queen, dressed in an oriental-like dress, overlooks her balcony with a demonic crow on her shoulder. _"Find Alice," _she commanded demon-like diamond armored troops._

_The JubJub Bird swoops down and snatches the tweedles, barely missing Riley and Chamo._

_The Hatter gulped at an unseen attack upon him and others._

_Black demonic Knights with diamond armored parts storm all around, led by witches and a boy with a strange creature latched into his back._

_A snake-chanting witch and a voodoo witch doctor cast a powerful spell on an unknown target._

"Help us make the world right again," _the Hatter pleaded to Alice and Riley._

_The Red Queen, on a battlefield with the Knave and her army, points out and shouted,_ "OFF WITH HER HEAD!"

_Back in her palace, she sits at her throne and calmly states, _"I need a pig here." _Then a pig runs down as she lifts her feet, it skids on its back, and she places them on the pig's belly, commenting, _"I love a warm pig belly for my aching feet." _the Hatter laughs aloud, but she stops him, _"Stop that." _and the Hatter did so._

**The Battle Between Good And Evil Begins…**

_The Bandersnatch plows through the forest, and roars as the Red Knights pass it._

_The White Queen runs from her palace doors to see someone fast._

_The Hatter and Riley step forward, with weapons in tow; the hatter with a sword and Riley with what appeared to be a red and orange stylized bow and arrow set._

_The armies, Black, Red, and White, march down to where the Old Castle stood. The Three Queens meet with one another with the White Rabbit in the middle. Alice, now sporting a silver armor and a silver and pearl encrusted sword walks forward, with the Hatter, Hare, Cheshire, Riley, Chamo, and others behind her. _

"We have our champion," _the White Queen stated with a smile._

_The Hatter once again places his hat on his head._

**And Imagination and Reality Collide…**

_An explosion was made, as Alice, Riley, and the Hatter escaped. Standing in the road while others ran, a man in a brown trench coat looked up at them. Riley was the only one talking as he shouted to the man, _"ARE YOU INSANE?" _the man just looked at him, and merely gave a pinching sign, showing he was only a little insane, as riley sighed in sarcasm, _"Oh, that's comforting."

_A steel griffin flies in the sky, and it switches over to the same trench coat man transforming one room into another._

"This is impossible and crazy," _Riley said to someone, exasperated and deeply confused. It looked as though he was talking to the White Queen, the Hatter, or the trench coat man. _

"But it is fun," _the trench coated man said with a smile on his face._ "You gotta admit that."

_A pile of dangerous and venomous snakes began to gather together and pile upward. They then began to take the shape of a woman with an hourglass figure. _"All this talk about good and evil is putting me off my tea," _a snake-like woman's voice spoke out. The snake mesh moved forward, with one foot touching the ground, and fully materializing into a woman's foot as it finished._

_A black clad woman, with her arms exposed showing snake tattoos turns to show her evil snake-like smile._

"Our world is only two things: power and control," _another voice spoke out, revealing to be a robed individual… with horns. _"I have power," _he snarled at someone, as his eyes glowed red, _"And I'll soon have control of all Wonderland."

"The Black Queen will summon Dark forces to go after the Vorpal Sword," _the trench coat man explained to Alice at a campfire, _"And the one who wields it."

_A wizard of Chinese origin and dressed in yellow appeared, nearly transforming back from being a yellow butterfly, appeared. The snake-witch appeared, along with six or five mice witch sisters, and a frog-witch on both her sides. The Black Queen waved her fan menacingly, and the Red Queen glared at some unseen force. The Snake Boy hissed as a cluster of snakes arched on his back at some unseen target. The same horned cloaked man appeared with a whisp of red smoke from behind him._

_Alice looked in fear, gripping at Riley's arm, with the Hatter and the trench coat man in front of them. The Horned Man chuckled evilly at the coated man, _"Hello, Balthazar."

_And unleashes a blast of hellfire to nearly engulf them all. Until the coated man, Balthazar steps up to block it._

"But I'm nothing special," _Alice confessed to the sorcerer, _"I couldn't slay or fight anything."

"Great heroes have always been called, both man and woman, either age," _Balthazar reassured her. _"And this is your time."

_The warrior, Kaldor, stops a black futuristic motorcycle, as he looks out towards the area to where the two human teens, along with others, made their escape from the Black Kingdom area._

_Alice, being in the silver armor, blocks a mighty purple lighting like blast from some dark dragon-like creature, looking rather heroic with the Vorpal sword in her hand._

"So I guess we're supposed to save the world, eh?" _Riley sighed. He then balled up his fist in front of Balthazar, _"Knuckle bump?"

_Balthazar looked at the fist in question, and looked to Riley for the answer, who just nodded him to do so. Sighing, he mumbled, _"Might as well." _and Knuckle bumped back._

_The scene changes from a daring chase on the Bandersnatch from the Gwythants, to a celebration in some sort of kingdom. Both Riley and Alice smile in wonder at a sky and lake filled with floating lanterns. Alice smiled to Riley, as the two nearly leaned in for a kiss. A Griffin flew down, landing in front of the ever growing crowd of adventurers._

_The Tweedles knock each other in the sides for a moment._

_The scene changes as Alice, still shrunk, rides atop a bloodhound with the hatter's hat in his mouth. The same scene happens with Riley, in his orange getup, while riding atop a werewolf in prison clothing. _

_The Cheshire Cat's head appears, wearing the Hatter's Hat, as he winks._

"This is impossible," _Alice whispers._

"Only if you believe it is," _the Hatter stated._

_Alice falls down the rabbit hole, bouncing off a mattress as she continues to scream. But Riley falls down the hole, and slams face first into a clock's face. He groans, _"Oh, really funny."

_The three kingdoms fight one another, while Alice is atop the former Castle's tower, fighting the most terrifying creature of Wonderland: the Jabberwocky._

_The Hatter and Riley smirk behind them while sakura blossoms fall down._

**Disney's WonderWorld**

_Chamo groans as a purple hair and black clad nineteen year old cuddles him cheek to cheek, _"Man, when this is all over, I'm gonna need some serious therapy."

**Coming S:)****N**


End file.
